


X Marks the Spot

by JCapasso



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:20:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 36,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28539495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: Audrey is a secret crime boss? What?! Duke is on the case though so don't worry. Or worry more. Whatever.
Relationships: Duke Crocker/Audrey Parker
Comments: 46
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Duke was glad that he could repair the crack in the hull of the Cape Rouge in his sleep because his mind certainly wasn’t on his work. There was too much that didn’t add up about that incident and he was trying to turn it over in his mind. The hijacking was one of those things that tended to happen in his line of work, and while the guy being troubled and able to read his mind was weird, it at least made sense. No, what was nagging at him was Audrey. She had found one of his secret escape hatches. He’d had more feds, mostly coast guard, but a few other branches too, going over his boat with a fine tooth comb and no one had ever found any of the deeper secrets. He had enough secrets set up for them to intentionally find to deflect from the rest. She had found it though, which made him wonder how. And what else she knew. Only someone with their own deep secrets to hide should be able to think on that level. 

Duke started watching her more closely after that incident and it was only a few days later when he noticed something that he couldn’t believe he hadn’t picked up before. Nathan was back on his case, digging around, and Audrey deflected him. That wasn’t anything new, or unexpected from a friend. The timing though…that was something that he hadn’t noticed before. It was always just in time for him to meet with a client or get a shipment. And she always managed to keep him busy long enough for everything to go off as planned. Almost like she had inside information. But that was insane…wasn’t it? It had him just on edge enough that it was Nathan that he went to when he was accused of stealing what was in the box and was on the verge of having a price on his head. 

It was just after that when Audrey ended up holing herself up in her room at the inn, but thankfully she didn’t go so far as to stop working too because he needed answers before he drove himself insane. He waited until he was sure that she would be gone for a few hours and then picked the lock for her room at the inn. He was more than familiar with these locks, having used the same method to fleece tourists since he was a kid, so getting in was no problem. Duke didn’t even bother checking the stuff in plain sight. If she /was/ hiding something big, it would be hidden just as well as his own secrets and anything in plain sight or even easily found would be to deflect suspicion. 

It took him about ten minutes to notice the slight difference in one of the dresser drawers, having taken everything out very carefully so that it could be put back in exactly the same way. The middle left drawer was about an inch too shallow at both the bottom and the back. It took him another five minutes to find the latch which was hidden under the lip of the drawer, made to seem like a nail that was slightly dislodged. He found a laptop computer hidden in the bottom compartment and a burner cell in the back. At least now he knew that she was hiding something. Now to see if he could figure out what. He didn’t bother with the computer. He was definitely no hacker and would be that it was wrapped up so tightly that it would be pointless to even try, and probably more than a little hazardous. The phone was a different story though. 

He went through the phone, noticing that there were only about ten numbers and he grabbed his small pad out of his pocket and started writing them down to look into later before he moved on to the text messages. They were clearly in code, so he wrote them all down word for word too. Thankfully there weren’t that many. He checked the call log and noticed a few calls that were recent, and made note of which ones they were, but there were no names with the contacts to give him ideas. He also noticed a few documents that had been sent and made note of those, but couldn’t think how to get copies of them. Sure he could send them to himself and then wipe the logs, but she could have backup logs or some other kind of notifications set up. Instead, he just committed as much of them as he could to memory, not able to make sense of much but hopefully digging into the other things he’d found would clarify some of it. Once he had mined all the information he could from the phone, he put it back in place and secured both hidden doors, put everything back in the drawers exactly the way it was, and even made sure that the motel pen was back in the same place that she left it before letting himself out. 

Once he was back at his boat, he started with going through the numbers. That would probably be the easiest part. It wasn’t until the fourth one that something dawned on him. Some of these numbers looked familiar. He pulled out his own phone and started comparing them. Sure enough, three of the ten were in his phone too. Some of his more illicit contacts. The ones at the top of the food chain of one of the main groups that he freelanced for. Just underneath the mysterious boss that everyone only knew as Fallen Angel. 

Was she investigating them? Trying to get to the boss? But then why the secrecy? And why would she have quit the FBI and went to work for Haven PD if she was in the middle of an investigation like that. Unless…did he become the center of that investigation somehow? Did she think that he was Fallen Angel? Or that he could lead her in that direction and the whole job switch was a setup to get to him? That made him more nervous than anything else and he redoubled his effort to figure out what the hell was going on. It took him two days to crack the text message code, and then another two days to believe what he was starting to suspect, which was backed up by the two documents that finally made sense. It was the /only/ part of this that made sense.

He took one more day to consider how to handle this before he decided that he had to confront her. He couldn’t just let it go. He had too many questions about how much she knew about him and how much of their friendship had been manipulation. He had to know if she really was his friend or if this whole thing was just business to her. The fact that she hadn’t told him any of this would hint towards the latter, but he still needed to know, once and for all, where he stood with her and wherever that was he would deal. The most important question on his mind though was the recent business with Stoney. He knew that she knew about it, and his role in it, and he had to know what the consequences of that would be. He’d never been good about just waiting for the hangman’s noose. 

It was with this thought in mind that he made his way to her room at the inn, knowing she would be there because she still hadn’t come out other than work. She had holed herself up inside right after the whole Stoney thing, which was part of what made him so nervous. When he didn’t get an answer at his first knock, he knocked harder calling out, “Audrey, it’s important. Can we please talk?” It was another minute before she let him in and he closed the door behind him, opening the conversation the way he’d planned, that could be brushed off if his insane conclusion was wrong. “You know…I always wondered what it would be like to meet a Fallen Angel.” 

Only because Duke was looking for it did he notice the tightening of her shoulders and the brief look of shock and panic in her eyes before she plastered a nonchalantly amused look on her face. “Is that supposed to be some kind of come-on?” 

Duke was completely convinced now. If the initial reaction hadn’t been enough, the speed and quality of her masks would have been. “I think you know it’s not,” he said with forced calm. 

“Duke…” she started to say as she tried to figure out how to play this. 

“How long do I have?” he cut her off. “And will you do the deed yourself or bring in someone else?” 

“What do you mean?” she asked confused. 

“I worked with the cops to get your agent arrested. I know you know that. And I know that I had a price on my head even before that, so…” 

“And you still came here alone to confront me,” Audrey chuckled and shook her head, sitting on the bed and motioning for him to sit too. “That’s one of the things that I’ve always admired about you.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You didn’t answer my questions,” Duke pointed out as he sat tensely, keeping out of arms reach, already having noticed that she didn’t have her gun on her. 

“How much time you have isn’t something I’m going to have any hand in. Or any of the organization. Yes, Stoney tried to put a price on your head, but I blocked it. I knew that she was the one stealing. There’s a reason I work both sides of the law. You just did my job for me this time,” Audrey explained. “I was surprised that you went to Nathan for help instead of me though,” she asked as much as said. 

Duke’s relief at the fact that he was off the hook was enough to have him sort of answer the question. “You knew about me all along didn’t you? All this trying to be friends and get close to me…was any of it even real?” 

Audrey sighed sadly and leaned back against the headboard. “Yes, I knew about you all along, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t real.”

“How?” was all Duke could manage to ask, hoping that she could get the myriad of meanings from that one word. 

Audrey knew what he was asking so she settled in to tell the story. “You first came to my attention a little over six years ago by reputation. I wanted you to work for me, so I sent an agent to recruit you. Evidence Ryan.”

“So that was all a setup?” Duke asked, hurt washing over him. “None of that was real either?” 

“The meeting and the first few jobs were a setup, but that was all. I don’t meddle in people’s personal lives. Her relationship with you had nothing to do with me and her betrayal certainly had nothing to do with me. She betrayed me too.” 

“How did she betray you?” Duke asked confused. 

“That job she took…and tried to force you to take…wasn’t sanctioned. She was going behind my back to do it. I don’t deal in those kinds of jobs and she knew it. Violence is not and will never be part of my organization,” Audrey explained. 

Duke nodded, more than a little relieved at that, but still had a lot more questions. “But I’ve never actually joined your organization. I work freelance all the time. Wouldn’t that be the same kind of thing?” 

“No. Because like you said, you’ve never worked for me,” she told him. “Evi told me pretty quick that you would never accept an employer and I had to make a choice to either let you go or accept that. You were good enough and smart enough that letting you go wasn’t an option I liked. You’re your own boss and owe me nothing. If you had ever gotten into the more violent aspects of the profession I just would have stopped hiring you for jobs. Unlike Evi, who owed me everything, including her loyalty, and knew exactly how I felt about those kinds of jobs. She was cut out completely and essentially blackballed. Only the lowest of the low would ever hire her now.” 

“What do you mean, she owed you everything?” Duke asked curiously. 

“First, I need you to know that I’m only telling you all this because you /are/ my friend. Regardless of anything else. I didn’t come here with the intent of making friends with you, but I’m not sorry I did,” Audrey said sincerely. 

“Then why did you come here?” 

“I came here because the FBI ordered me here to investigate Jonas Lester. Finding a gun registered to you at the scene was as much as surprise to me as it was to you. Then you saved my life…and went above and beyond to help me,” she told him. 

“Am I why you stayed?” he couldn’t help but ask. 

“Not exactly,” she shrugged. “I stayed because the troubles intrigued me. Because I wanted…no /needed/ to help with them. If anything, you were the reason I almost left,” she chuckled. 

“Why?” Duke asked confused. 

“Because I knew that if anyone was going to be able to catch me out, it would be you. You’re too smart and intuitive for your own good sometimes.”

“That’s not the first time I’ve been told that,” he said amusedly, finally starting to believe her. 

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she laughed. 

“So you stayed because of the troubles, but you didn’t avoid me?” Duke asked curiously. 

“I tried for a while. Off and on. Pretty much like you were doing with me Mr. ‘I don’t talk to cops’,” she reminded him with an amused grin. 

Duke couldn’t help but wonder if the reason that she gave up on that was anything like the reason that he did, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Not now with everything else clamoring for purchase in his mind. “You were saying about Evi owing you?” 

“I saved her from a fate worse than death. She got deep into debt with the worst kind of scum. I knew what kind of deals he made to beautiful young women who owed him money that they couldn’t pay back. I offered her a better deal. I paid off her debt and she came to work for me. She had plenty of skills if she wasn’t being set up to fail for just that purpose,” she explained. 

“So she just had to pay you back instead for better terms?” Duke guessed. 

“No. She didn’t have to pay me back at all. That’s not how I work. Loyalty is a lot more important to me than money. And generates even more of it.”

“How did you end up in this business?” Duke asked curiously. 

“This is another thing that I’m answering as a friend,” she said seriously. “It’s not something that I talk about often, and the number of people who even know part of this story can be counted on one hand.” 

“But you’ll still tell me?” Duke asked confused. If it was that secret, then why. 

“Because I know I can trust you,” she told him. 

Duke let out a heavy breath, more overwhelmed by that statement than he would admit to as he leaned back against the headboard next to her. “You can,” he promised. There was no way he would betray that trust now, if ever he would have. 

“You know that I grew up in the foster system.” He nodded. “Well, some of the foster homes were…bad. I won’t go into details mostly because I don’t even like thinking of them. I could never just stand aside and let people be hurt though. Even if it meant getting it worse myself. I wanted to help the other kids, which was why I decided to join the FBI. It wasn’t enough though. There was still too much that I was powerless against. Too many other kids falling through the cracks. When I realized how grateful those other kids were for my help, this idea was born. The ones that the system couldn’t help, that fell into crime and drugs and went off the radar…I could help them this way. Give them jobs and skills to survive and keep them out of even worse hands.”

“How much do you know about my childhood?” he had to ask suspiciously. 

“Not a lot. I know that your father died when you were eight and your mother took custody of you. I know that she had a record a mile long and given some of the offenses, she couldn’t have been the best parent. I know that you have a juvie record, but it’s sealed, so I don’t know much about it, but I can hardly blame you given your influences. That’s about it,” she shrugged. 

Duke sighed in acceptance. He could live with that much. Maybe one day he would tell her more. He got back on the main subject though. “So that’s it? You’re a crime boss to /help/ people?” 

“And get rich,” she laughed. “The FBI doesn’t pay much and Haven PD pays even less. For someone who grew up with nothing, money is a powerful motivator. For both my agents and myself.” 

Duke laughed with her, “Don’t I know it.” That was pretty much his way of things too. Help people get what they need and get enough money for himself that he’d never need to worry about not having enough again. “What I don’t get though…how do people trust an FBI agent in this sort of thing?” 

Audrey laughed and shook her head. “That presumes that anyone knows who I am.” When she saw him trying to figure out how that would work, she decided to explain. “Outside of this room, no one knows my identity. No one else has ever even heard my real voice or knows if I’m a man or a woman.” 

“Smart,” Duke nodded, realizing again the kind of trust she was placing in him, but then not really. Even if he told anyone, who would ever believe him?


	3. Chapter 3

“So, since I’ve assuaged your curiosity, is it my turn now?” Audrey asked.

“Depends on what you want to know,” Duke replied with a shrug. 

“How did you figure me out?” 

Duke felt a brief bout of nerves that he quickly hid, but not before Audrey noticed. He knew that she deserved an answer though given how open she’d been with him. Still, he needed certain assurances. “Promise you won’t put a hit on me or arrest me or anything?” 

Audrey laughed as she said, “I promise. Hell, unless you went around blabbing my secret to other people, I probably won’t even be mad.”

“I would never do that,” Duke said seriously. 

“If I thought you would, I wouldn’t have indulged this conversation as far as I have,” she assured him. “So spill.”

“Well it started when the boat was hijacked and you found my secret escape hatch. Only someone very familiar with hiding big secrets could have considered something like that. Of course, that was before I knew that you knew Evi and could have gotten that information from her…”

“I didn’t,” Audrey cut in. “I didn’t need to know how you got away with things, just that you did. The more people know a secret the less chance that it stays secret.”

“Fair enough,” Duke nodded respectfully. “After that I started paying more attention and noticed that you always managed to deflect and distract Nathan at just the right time for me to handle some of the more illicit business, but only the stuff for one particular group.” 

“I didn’t have any inside information on your other clients or I would have done the same,” Audrey shrugged. 

“I appreciate that,” Duke said gratefully. “Maybe later we can come up with some kind of signal?” When she nodded, he continued his story. “Once I noticed that, I knew that I had to get some answers one way or another. It made me nervous that you knew that much about my affairs.”

“That’s understandable,” Audrey told him, sensing the big part was coming by the tension that settled heavier in his shoulders. She was just as good as he was at reading people. 

“So I broke into your room here one day while you were at work and I found your secret compartment,” he said quickly. 

“Which one?”

“The middle left drawer. With the computer and the phone,” he said, relieved that she didn’t seem pissed. “I didn’t touch the computer. I only know enough about them to know that I don’t know enough to find any hidden secrets there and would probably end up making a huge mess.”

“I’m glad. That hard drive is heavily encrypted and has a dead man’s switch that will wipe the whole thing if you don’t type in the correct password within thirty seconds of turning it on.” She didn’t mention the other failsafe it had just in case.

“I figured it’d be something like that,” Duke chuckled. “Which left me with the phone. I noticed that three of the numbers in it, I also had. For people high up in the same organization that you were distracting Nathan for. My first thought was that you were investigating them and that you stayed here because you got the impression that I was more important that I actually am…”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re pretty important. Even before you became important to me personally,” she told him. “You were always my first choice for anything that could use a boat, and one of only a handful of people that I ever outsource to. The /only/ one I outsource to on a regular basis. You’re the best at what you do.” 

Duke couldn’t help but grin at that. Recognition was always nice. He wasn’t done with his story yet though. “It took me a few days to decode your text messages. I needed to know what kind of information you had on me and how compromised I was.”

“It only took you two days?” she asked worriedly, making a mental note to keep her text messages cleaned out in the future. 

“Only because I know you and know how you think,” he assured her. “If you hadn’t been the one to come up with the code, I doubt it would have gone so well.” When she just gave a mostly relieved nod, he continued. “The messages combined with the two documents I found on the phone gave me the suspicion that you were Fallen Angel. How did you come up with that name anyway?” 

“It kinda has two meanings. The most obvious was that I was a fed…the angel…but fallen and running a criminal organization. The other was that I was helping people on both sides of the line. The good and the bad, so to speak,” she explained. 

“I get that. It makes sense,” Duke said thoughtfully. “Once I figured it out, I thought for sure that I was dead after what happened with Stoney.”

“First, I don’t put hits on people, period. Worst case I either blackball them or arrest them,” she told him. 

“One thing I don’t get. You had to know what was going on. Why did you leave it up to me?” 

“A few reasons,” she told him. “First, the less of them that I have a hand in taking down, the less attention gets put on me. I usually farm out the arrest when I can. Second, I didn’t realize what was going on until she tried to have the hit put on you, which I stopped by the way. Her mistake was that she didn’t realize that I know you. I know how much pride you take in your work and that you wouldn’t steal something you were hired to deliver. Which meant that someone else did, and it’s usually the one yelling the loudest.”

“So you didn’t know she was skimming before? Did she ever set anyone else up like she tried to do me?” Duke asked. 

“No, I didn’t know. For all I know that was the first time she’d done it since she had a patsy outside the organization,” Audrey told him. “Once I realized what was going on, you were already handling it, so I decided to sit back and see what you did. Trying to pay her off with the counterfeit money she gave you was particularly inspired,” she laughed. 

“It was a test?” 

“In a way,” she admitted. 

“What about all the times you’ve asked me to help the cops? To rat out my associates?” Duke asked, wondering why she trusted him so much after how often he had done just that. 

“I wouldn’t call them tests so much as finding your lines,” she told him. “I asked for help because we needed it. The fact that you would only agree to help when it became a clear matter of protecting innocents helped me to see that you had your priorities right. Money is money, but lives are more important, and loyalty means nothing if innocents are in direct danger.” 

Duke nodded, feeling a little better about her business after that explanation too. Sure, she had said that she wasn’t in the business of violence, but the fact that she would excuse just about anything if it meant protecting people meant that at least their moral compasses aligned on that point. Not that he only did business with people who agreed with him there, obviously, but as close as they were personally and as many secrets as they were sharing here, she was more than just a business associate. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he brought the conversation back around. “So you’re not pissed that I broke into your room and found one of your hiding spots?” He just had to be sure. 

“I’m not particularly /happy/ about it,” she chuckled. “But I’m not pissed, no. I know one of yours and you know one of mine. Fair’s fair.” 

“You have a point there,” Duke agreed amusedly. “So, about the counterfeit money…”

“It’ll take a few more days for me to get that much cash without drawing attention, but you did your job, so you deserve to get paid in real money. We’re not supposed to use the counterfeit stuff for our own people.”

“I’m not in any rush,” Duke assured her. For anyone else it would be a different story, but if she said she’d get it, he knew she would. “Is that why you’ve been holed up in your room for the last week? The whole mess with Stoney?” 

“No, that’s…something personal,” she said with a sigh. 

“I’m not gonna pry, but I /am/ still your friend so if you want to talk, I’m here,” he said gently. 

“It’s just…a bit of an identity crisis,” she made a split second decision to talk about it. 

“Living dual lives, it does tend to happen,” he said understandingly. 

“No, that’s not it,” she shook her head. “It’s…I found out that Lucy Ripley isn’t my mother. She’s me…somehow.” 

“That…doesn’t make any sense,” Duke said confused. “Lucy would be in her sixties or something and you’re clearly not. You can remember your whole life right?” 

“Yeah, she would. And I can. But…somehow it’s true. Maybe related to the troubles? That’s the only thing I can think of. I’ve been ‘holed up in here’ as you call it, trying to make sense of it all.” 

“I can see why,” Duke said sympathetically. “I wish I had some answers for you, but if you need any help finding some…”

“Thank you, Duke. That means a lot,” she said relieved, leaning against his side. His support, even after everything tonight, was invaluable to her. “But right now, it’s pretty late. I just want to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, okay,” he got the hint and got up, pressing a casual kiss to the side of her head. “Goodnight, Angel,” he teased and then ducked the pillow that a laughing Audrey threw at his head with a laugh of his own as he headed out the door. He had quite a bit to process himself tonight and the revelation about Lucy was the least of it.


	4. Chapter 4

When he got back to his boat for lunch the next day to find someone waiting for him with the tattoo that would kill him, his first thought was that Audrey had changed her mind about letting him know as much as he did, but he quickly put that thought out of his head. Audrey wouldn’t do that. Not to him. No, there had to be something else going on. Which meant that she was the best person to help him with it. Unfortunately, he ran into Julia on the way to Audrey’s room and Julia went full gatekeeper on him. He knew that she had pretty much hated him ever since the boat incident and wasn’t sure how much Audrey would want anyone to know about their even closer friendship, so he let her send him away with a promise that she would give Audrey a message. 

Julia didn’t give Audrey the message until she’d been there for about two hours, and Audrey was livid. When she learned why…that Julia hated Duke for being a criminal, she cut her friendship off too. Naturally, she claimed that it was because she didn’t want to be friends with someone so closeminded to hate a person just for their job. That Duke was a good guy regardless and even helped the police regularly. Once she had essentially kicked Julia out, of both her room and her life, she immediately made her way for the Gull, hoping that she wasn’t too late. 

Audrey didn’t see Duke anywhere around, but that wasn’t surprising since she saw the tattoo prominently displayed on a man sitting at the center table. She walked over with the intent of intimidating him to make him leave Duke alone, but that idea was set aside when the waitress spilled hot coffee all over him and he didn’t even flinch. Audrey was still trying to wrap her head around that as the man walked out. She headed over to the bar to see if they knew where Duke was, but he appeared about the time she got there. Audrey knew how on edge he was when he was so dismissive of the nearly hysterical waitress worried about getting in trouble. He was usually great with his employees. Audrey just gave her a reassuring smile as Duke dragged her away to talk more privately. 

She was a little surprised to be led upstairs, but before she could ask about the half cleaned space, Duke asked, “Please tell me this wasn’t you?” 

Audrey couldn’t help but feel a little hurt at that, but she understood why he had to ask. Between the timing and the fact that it had taken her hours to show up after his plea for help, it was a reasonable conclusion. The fact that he clearly didn’t really believe it helped. “It wasn’t me,” she said clearly. 

Duke let out a breath of relief. “I didn’t really think it was, you know. It was just…the timing and all…”

“I get it,” Audrey cut him off, not needing to hear it. The fact that he had immediately come to her for help was enough. “I wasn’t offended. A little hurt, yeah, but I get it.” 

“Sorry,” Duke winced. “Do you know anything? Did you get anything from him?” 

“He can’t feel,” she said bluntly. 

“What do you…” Duke trailed off as his mind went a mile a minute. 

“I need to try and look into him. Do you want to come along and help?” she offered. 

“Definitely,” Duke nodded. Staying next to a cop that could protect him was pretty much a no-brainer. 

When they learned that Max Hansen was most likely Nathan’s father, Duke felt for the guy and didn’t argue at all when Audrey wanted to go tell him. He did offer to back her up for moral support, but he knew that his presence would definitely not help matters when it came to Nathan. Still, he cared more about Audrey than Nathan and part of him just wanted to stick close to the protection. He wasn’t at all surprised when she turned him down though. Probably because of the same conclusion he’d come to. 

Duke had been sitting on the railing at the back of the Gull, with his shotgun in his lap when he heard someone coming and moved like lightning. Seeing that it was just Audrey and Nathan he immediately relaxed and lowered the gun. Hearing that someone else had taken care of his problem for him made him giddier than he should have been, even if he was sitting her being questioned over it. He assured them that he wasn’t offended to be excused and he really wasn’t. Not since he could see Audrey rolling her eyes at the idea that he could have done it. This was clearly a pure Nathan idea. 

Of course she couldn’t let him stay in his happy bubble. No. She had to burst it by pointing out that there were plenty of other people with the same tattoo. He contented himself with the fact that he was the only one that had been here recently threatening him. He would worry about others when they popped up. If they popped up. In the meantime, he was in the clear and could get back to work upstairs. 

Audrey followed Nathan, for once not arguing too much given everything he was going through, as they tried to piece together the puzzle of the cracks. When she realized where it was leading, she couldn’t help but wince. This wasn’t good. And when they found Garland Wuornos on the verge of shattering, it was even worse. Surely Nathan couldn’t lose two fathers in one day. The universe wouldn’t be so cruel. It turned out that it was though, and no one could blame Nathan for falling apart. Audrey went into damage control. Got Vince and Dave out to help with the remains while Nathan curled up on the beach in tears and then she went to sit with him, spending the entire night by his side as he cried. She couldn’t even imagine what he must be feeling right now. 

By morning he had mostly pulled himself together and they were just getting up to leave when they were approached by someone else. Someone claiming to be FBI agent Audrey Parker. Despite the worry growing in her gut, she still arrested her for impersonating an agent and they day went completely downhill from there as they were best by biblical plagues. She was even more surprised when Evi showed up, clearly trying to sink her hooks into Duke, going so far as to introduce herself as his wife despite the fact that they’d been split up for years. The fact that she could feel the recognition of her in the other Audrey as well, just increased her misgivings and helped her decide to let her go and hope that they could work something out. 

She took her mental doppelganger out to dinner at the Gull to try and work together to figure out what was going on. As soon as they were sitting and reasonably certain that no one was eavesdropping, the brunette Audrey turned on her, “Okay, real talk. Impersonating an agent is one thing. Annoying, but manageable. What I want to know is how the hell you got my secret codes, access to my secure systems, and know so much about my other business? That goes way beyond identity theft.”

“Okay, so this is going to sound crazy, but I know because I lived it. I remember setting everything up. I remember creating the codes. Building the organization. Every incident in every foster home that helped to spark and refine the whole idea,” the blonde Audrey explained. 

“Every incident?” the other Audrey asked skeptically. “Even Theresa?”

Audrey shuddered at the memory. “Yeah. Even that one. Dayton Ohio. My third foster home. She told me that foster dad Jack had been coming in her room at night. Drunk.” 

“She was twelve years old,” the other Audrey picked up the story, finally starting to believe and needing to prove that she remembered just as well. 

“So I waited up for him the next night,” blonde Audrey continued. 

“He stank of cigarettes and vodka,” brunette Audrey supplied hauntedly. 

“And when he turned off the lights and he came for her…I put some scissors in his neck. He didn’t even know how it happened. But he never touched her again. It’s why I became a cop. And everything else.”

“Mickey Mouse scissors,” the brunette Audrey supplied once she had shaken off the shock. “I never told anyone that.”

“Neither have I. Until now.”

“How is this possible?” she asked incredulously. 

“You’ve already seen how the impossible tends to happen in this town on a regular basis. I can’t explain it either, but if you’re willing to work with me, I’ll tell you everything I know and we’ll see if we can’t get to the bottom of this.” 

Before anything more could be said, a whole team of FBI agents came in the door, and Audrey wondered amusedly if Duke was somewhere having a heart attack right now at all the feds in his place. Unfortunately, it just confirmed her sinking suspicion that she was the fake, and she was more than glad when the other Audrey covered for her and the feds went on their way. Once it was just the two of them again, the real Audrey asked her, “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” 

“Yeah, one sec,” Audrey told her, looking around and spotting Duke watching nervously from the bar and motioned him over. “Can we use the upstairs here to talk alone?” 

“You sure?” Duke asked with a raised eyebrow, more than a little nervous about this imposter being alone with her. 

“Yeah, I’m sure. It’ll be fine,” Audrey assured him and Duke nodded and pulled the keys out of his pocket, handing them over with the correct key for the upstairs first.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as they were up there, the brunette Audrey asked the big question. “How much does he know?” 

“You know how smart and insightful Duke is. How much do you think?” 

“Damnit,” Audrey ran a hand through her dark hair. After so much work to keep her identity completely secret from anyone…but wait. Her identity was still secret. For the most part. It was this Audrey that he thought was Fallen Angel. “Then we’ll keep me out of it and just let him keep thinking that you’re the boss.”

“I’m not sure how well that’ll work,” blonde Audrey pointed out. “All that talk about how you’re the real Audrey, and he knows that there are reasons to suggest that I’m not, even if he doesn’t really believe it yet. And I don’t know how much of that display out there that he noticed, but he’s going to put the pieces together very soon if he hasn’t already.” 

Dark-haired Audrey cursed again before asking, “And you really think he can be trusted with this secret?” 

“Absolutely,” she assured her counterpart. 

“What did you mean by reasons to suggest that you’re not me?” 

Audrey sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know much or how or anything, but…Back in the eighties, I was someone named Lucy Ripley. I was the same age I am now. Looked exactly the same, except for the hair. I don’t understand how it’s possible, but…”

“I see what you mean about impossible things happening here,” the brunette Audrey couldn’t even wrap her head around that and decided not to even bother trying. There were more important things to discuss anyway. “Okay, back to the key subject. You moving pieces around in my organization.”

“I didn’t know until just now that it wasn’t originally mine,” Audrey assured her. “If you want me to back off, I will.”

Brunette Audrey considered that for a moment before shaking her head. “No. I wouldn’t mind the help and if you already know everything anyway and can clearly run things just as well as me…Just let me know what you’re doing and when.” 

“Okay, I can do that,” Audrey nodded. “And you’ll do the same? That way I don’t end up countermanding you or giving the same orders more than once?”

“Understandable,” she agreed. “Now what were you thinking bringing Evidence Ryan here?” 

“That wasn’t me,” Audrey shook her head profusely. “It wasn’t you either?”

“What are the chances that her timing is coincidence?” the real Audrey asked worriedly. 

“For once, I think it actually might be,” Audrey said thoughtfully. “Or maybe your investigation into me tipped her off about something big going on here? But I don’t think she’s here for us. You saw the way she was attaching to Duke.”

“You think she’s trying to weasel her way back into the organization and using him as her ticket in?” the brunette Audrey asked curiously. 

“That’s my best guess,” Audrey shrugged. “She definitely didn’t show any signs of recognition towards either of us, and there’s no way she could have gotten any information that could lead to us being Fallen Angel.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, but if Duke spills the beans…”

“He won’t,” Audrey assured her. “If nothing else, he knows that she’s persona non grata with us and would never turn against us like that. Especially if I warn him about her likely motives.” 

“Okay, I’ll let you handle that then,” the real Audrey nodded. There was a little more talk about how they would handle the organization together, made easier by the fact that the real Audrey planned to stay in town at least for a while to try and figure this whole thing out. Once they left the upstairs they saw Duke heading back to his boat and called out to him. When he looked up, blonde Audrey tossed the keys down with a yelled thanks, and he nodded as he caught them expertly in one hand. 

Duke went back to his boat and poured himself a very stiff drink. After the day he’d had, he desperately needed it. As he sat on the boat pondering things, he came to a few conclusions. If his Audrey had once been Lucy then the new Audrey was probably the real one, making her the real Fallen Angel, putting his head back on the potential chopping block if she knew that he knew. Then there was Evi. Did the new Audrey bring her here? Was she part of some plot to get to him? Or get him out of the way? Or even just distract him? Given what his Audrey had said about knowing that if anyone could figure her out it was him, it was a reasonable assumption. If Evi was distracting him then he would be less likely to be digging into her. 

What he needed was to talk to his Audrey. Get a little information on what all the new one knew and see what, if anything, she knew about Evi’s presence. Getting her alone proved to be difficult though seeing as she was apparently best buddies now with the other Audrey, which made sense in a way. They were practically the same person and if you can’t get along with yourself then who can you get along with. It was still annoying though and he was no closer to an answer when he got a visit from an old friend needing passage out of the country. Normally, he wouldn’t have hesitated, but he was being watched by too many people with too many different and unknown motives to be sticking his neck out right now. The wad of money Ian gave him changed his tune though. If nothing else, he could count on his Audrey to protect him if things went bad. 

When the new Audrey showed up, he was more than a little nervous, still not knowing how much she knew and what she planned to do about it, so he dodged and weaved with the best of them and made sure not to let on that he knew that she was anything but an FBI agent. He was still pressured into helping her though, not that it surprised him. 

The real Audrey was more than a little amused by Duke’s game and played along, letting him think that she didn’t know what he knew and using only FBI tactics to push him. They would be plenty to get the job done anyway. The only hint she gave him was the way she slyly pointed out how serious he was about security and that he had to know more than he was saying. Seeing the fake Agent Howard talking to the deceased police chief gave her some clues, but since the other guy was dead, it was less helpful than she’d hoped. 

Learning that Ian had somehow stolen Nathan’s trouble made Duke more than a little nervous and he knew that whatever was going on here was way over his head and probably connected to the other craziness happening around town. Whatever it was, he wanted nothing to do with it, so he made an excuse to stall while he headed into town to find someone to get Ian off his boat. When he found out that Ian was responsible for six deaths in a burned out building and had the ability to destroy the entire town, which, judging by his desire to get out of here, was his plan, Duke was glad that he had made the choice he did. 

If he’d known he’d end up walking back into a shootout and hostage situation, he would have knocked Ian out and tied him up before he left, but this was what he had to work with. He was only a little bit surprised when Nathan ended up taking his trouble back at the end to get rid of the girl’s instead. It was the kind of thing that Nathan would do, though if he was totally honest with himself, he might have done the same thing in Nathan’s position. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone. There was a reason that people thought he was selfish. He liked it that way. 

It was only the next day when the new agent Parker came to him again. This time with something like a peace offering, though it still had a favor attached. Unfortunately, Evi had to insert herself into the equation and even offered to steal the file to keep him from having to do the favor. He could live with the favor though and he wanted no part of stealing from the FBI /or/ Fallen Angel. Both of which would be equally hazardous given his currently precarious position that he still hadn’t managed to talk to his Audrey about. 

When the favor ended up resulting in her losing her memory, Duke couldn’t help but feel bad. More so because it did solve some of his problems. He wouldn’t have wanted to solve them this way though. He was glad that Evi had thought to steal the file anyway though since she clearly couldn’t remember anything about it. His guilt led to him looking up the boyfriend she’d mentioned and bringing him to Haven to take her home and he caught his Audrey’s grateful look. He could tell that she was a mess over this and offered to buy her drinks at the Gull. More like comp her drinks since he was the owner, but it was the same thing. There were still things he wanted to talk to her about, but they were much less urgent now.


	6. Chapter 6

Audrey and Duke were both on their second drinks when there was a pop and the power went out and Duke cursed. “What is it? A trouble you think?” Audrey asked worriedly. 

“Nah. Probably just blew the circuit breaker,” Duke sighed. “The new wiring for upstairs must have been too much for it. I’ll be right back.” When he heard the patrons start to get unsettled he raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear it. “Nothing to worry about folks. I’ll have the power back in a few minutes. Just sit tight.” 

Duke was only gone for about ten minutes before the power came back on and he was slipping back into his seat next to Audrey moments later. “So, it /was/ just the circuit breaker?” she asked hopefully. In this town, she wasn’t taking anything for granted. 

“Yep. Unhooked the new connections for upstairs and reset it. I’ll figure out a more permanent fix in the morning,” he told her. 

“I keep meaning to ask, what are you doing upstairs anyway?” 

“I guess now’s as good a time as any,” he chuckled. “I’m making it into an apartment. I figure since you’ve decided to stay for the foreseeable future, you might like something a little more permanent than the old bed and breakfast and would appreciate a landlord that doesn’t ask a lot of questions or snoop around.” 

“You’re…building me an apartment…” she asked in awe. 

“Yeah, that was the idea. I mean, if you don’t want it I can always rent it out to someone else, but…”

Audrey cut him off with a hug. “Thank you, Duke. That means a lot. Of course, I want it.” 

“Good,” Duke sighed with relief as he hugged her back. “Because I already had to push Evi off and tell her it was for you when she tried to grab it up.” He wanted to steer the conversation towards that subject. 

“Yeah…about Evi…” Audrey said hesitantly, not sure how he would take what she had to say. 

“I wondered if you would have any insight into that subject but it’s been a busy week and I haven’t had a chance to ask.”

“Well it’s not insight so much as…probable motives maybe?” she shrugged. 

“Just spit it out,” Duke rolled his eyes. “I doubt there’s anything you could tell me about her that would surprise me.”

“Well…the other Audrey and I think…/thought/ she might be trying to get back in with the organization and using you to get a foot in the door.” 

“Why would she think I could help?” Duke asked confused. 

“Maybe because what she did to you is what blew everything up. She might think that if she can get you to vouch for her…or maybe just work with you overall since no one else will hire her. Or maybe she’s being genuine and she really missed you and wants to make up…I don’t know.”

“Yeah, I seriously doubt the last one,” Duke snorted derisively. “I’ll keep my eyes open. So, the other Audrey isn’t the one that brought her here? As a distraction or something?”

“No. She was as surprised as I was to see her,” Audrey told him. “As weird as it seems, the timing was just coincidence.” 

“If anyone else had told me that, I’d say they were full of crap,” Duke huffed. He knew that Audrey wouldn’t lie to him though. Not about this. But he wasn’t ruling out the other Audrey lying to her. 

“Do you want me to see what I can do to get rid of her?” Audrey offered. 

Duke considered that for a moment before shaking his head. “Not right now. I’ll try to handle it without you having to tip your hand. I might take you up on that later though.”

“Okay, just let me know,” Audrey agreed before going back to the original topic. “So, how close is the apartment to being ready?” 

“Once I get this electrical problem taken care of I’ll just need to do a final check and it’ll all be good. I got the plumbing finished yesterday and the stove and fridge in this afternoon, which is probably what overloaded the circuit breaker, so…say…lunchtime tomorrow give or take an hour or two.”

“Can we go take a look at it now?” she asked hopefully. 

“Sure, why not. Just have to take flashlights,” Duke chuckled, leaning over the bar to grab some of the emergency flashlights he kept there and handed one to her. She followed him up the stairs as he showed her what all he’d done, including the secret hiding spaces in the walls. “Feel free to use them or make your own.”

“You gonna show me a few more of your secrets if I use them?” she asked amusedly, reminding him of their one for one fairness deal. 

Duke considered that for a minute before nodding. “Yeah, sure. There are a few that could come in handy if we’re ever in one of those situations again anyway.” 

“Then I’ll use them,” she agreed. “For some of my stuff at least.” She wasn’t going to hide /everything/ where he could access it any more than he was going to show her /all/ the secrets of his boat. “I guess that means I’ll be spending the morning shopping for furniture and supplies, troubles permitting.”

“And I’ll be around all day to help you get stuff in and set up if you need help,” he offered. She thanked him and they made their way out, returning the flashlights and having one more drink before calling it a night. They both had busy days coming up. 

Audrey’s first stop was for furniture, wanting to get that out of the way and a delivery time set up, hopefully for later that day. If not, she’d have to see if Duke would come help her pick up the essentials. Now that she had a chance to get out of the B&B she wanted to do so as soon as possible. She was able to have the furniture set to deliver around two that afternoon and then started on home goods, bedding, kitchen supplies, cleaning supplies and so on. She would worry about groceries later. 

By the time she got to the Gull with her fully loaded car, it was around lunchtime so she headed inside to grab something to eat. Duke joined her about halfway through her meal and handed her the keys and they spent the rest of the meal chatting before he helped her get everything unloaded and upstairs. They were just finishing up getting all that put away…what they could without the furniture at least, when the furniture delivery got there. 

Since Audrey had already mentioned where she wanted all the furniture while they were getting everything else done, Duke offered to handle that if she wanted to go get her stuff packed at the B&B and take care of anything else she needed to do and she gratefully took him up on the offer. She knew it wouldn’t take long to pack up so she went to the grocery store first and stocked up on essentials. Once she was back to the inn, she just threw all her clothes in her bag before taking out the false bottom and back to the drawer and retrieving her secret computer and phone, and then snagged everything else she had hidden, including the USB drive that involved taking the lamp apart to get. 

Once she got back to the apartment, she got the phone and computer put up in the separate spaced Duke had made specifically for them and left the rest hidden in her bag until after Duke left once everything was unloaded and she set to making her own hiding places. She did decide to use one more of Duke’s though in the rafters where she put her anti-surveillance devices. After sweeping the apartment for bugs of course. Just because she trusted Duke there wasn’t any reason to get sloppy and quite a few people had been in and out of here delivering the furniture. 

By the time she got everything settled and put away, she was exhausted and it was late so she headed downstairs for dinner, not even willing to think about cooking tonight. Not that she was much of a cook anyway, of course. Once she finished eating and was back upstairs, she fell into her new and freshly made bed and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She would go see Duke tomorrow about the hiding places on his boat. 

Audrey knew that he was dealing with a client in the morning, so waited until after lunch to go looking for him. “Here for your quid pro quo I’m guessing?” Duke asked amusedly, leading her into the boat.

“And to thank you for the apartment and all your help yesterday,” she replied as she followed him. 

“You’re welcome,” he said as they walked into the stateroom. “You already know about that escape hatch, and there are hidden guns all over the place which you can easily find when and if you need one, but those are legal registered guns so try not to use them unless you have to. They’re mostly just to make law enforcement think they found some secrets so they stop digging.” 

“Makes sense,” Audrey nodded understandingly. She didn’t have anything like that just because in her position if someone was digging, she was already in hot water since she was /supposed/ to be squeaky clean. 

“The real hidden stuff is much less obvious. Like here,” he walked to the back wall and showed her a hidden switch that opened a portion of the wall. “These are the illegal and untraceable guns. Pop up the bottom here and there’s the ammo.” He closed that back up and led her into the galley. He took her hand and moved it back behind the refrigerator. “You feel that screw there? Don’t press it.” When she nodded he explained, “That’s actually a disguised button. It will fry anything broadcasting a signal within fifty yards. Useful for getting rid of surveillance, but you want to make sure your phones and computers are off before hitting it.” 

“Smart,” she nodded with respect. A lot cruder and more heavy-handed than her own methods, but just as effective. 

He showed her the secret gun stash there that he had in every room on the boat before heading up to the help and control room which would be the last thing he showed her. She wouldn’t need to see what he had hidden in the bedrooms or the hold, and especially not the secret storage compartments for contraband. He was showing her enough to help him defend the boat if they were in the position that she needed to. He showed her the gun stash up there and the two hidden legal guns before showing her another disguised button on the back of his nav console. “And please for the love of all that’s holy, if you ever have to hit this one, or the one downstairs, make sure that all this equipment is off first. It’s a bitch to fix once it’s fried.” 

“I will,” she laughed. “Promise.”


	7. Chapter 7

Once the tour was done, Duke offered her a beer and to stick around and chat for a while. It was one of the last nice days before the cold weather hit so they sat on the futon on the deck and he asked, “So I know we’ve been keeping busy the last couple days, but how are you? After what happened to the other Audrey and all?”

“You mean the /real/ Audrey?” she asked with a sigh. “I’m just a fake, but I’m the one that’s left. How is that even fair?”

“Hey, you’re not fake,” Duke said reassuringly. “It doesn’t matter who had the memories first. They’re still just as real to you as they were to her. They still shape who you are. How is that not real?” 

Audrey nodded slowly, leaning against his side for comfort which he gladly offered. She knew she was playing with fire. Falling in love with him had very much /not/ been a part of her plan when she came here. She just couldn’t help it, and as long as he was willing to offer her the comfort she needed, she would take it. “I guess. It’s just…so hard. I mean…I feel like I’m getting all the benefits of her state. Sure she gets all the FBI perks and all, but the organization, all the hidden accounts, the things that no one else can know about…”

“Is just as much yours as it is hers. You didn’t plan what happened to her. You wouldn’t have. There was nothing that you could have done,” he assured her. 

“I know…but it’s still hard.”

“I know,” he said sadly, leaning his head against hers. “And you can be sad, just don’t feel guilty.” 

“I’ll try,” she promised. 

Duke realized that was as good as he was going to get so he changed the subject to lighter topics for a while and had her completely cheered up before she headed home, and he was left to his thoughts. Thoughts that seemed to center around a certain blonde haired detective more and more of late and it was getting harder to keep them at bay. He still managed though. At least for now, and decided to do what he’d been putting off with helping her get settled in. It was time to follow the treasure map. 

Unfortunately, being on the water always helped him think. Usually that was a good thing, but not so much this time since they kept going back to the place that he didn’t want. He knew that he was in love with Audrey. He’d known that for a long time. That didn’t mean anything though. He’d stuck his neck out once before and gotten his heart stomped on. He wasn’t about to do it again. There was only so much one person could take. 

Speaking about how much one person could take, running into Evi was the last thing he needed right now. He didn’t buy her story about finding it for him for a second. Especially if whatever it was turned out to be valuable. He was just glad that he got here before she found it and took off with it herself. It was already dark by that point but when she offered to share her tent he just scoffed at her and started to head back to the boat before he realized that was exactly what she wanted. If he left now, he would probably wake up to find whatever he was looking for long gone. He didn’t really have much of a choice. He made it very clear when she tried to snuggle up to him that he was not interested in the slightest and thankfully, she backed off. He knew that the subject wasn’t over yet. And probably wouldn’t be until she got whatever it was she wanted and left town. 

The next morning it was back to digging. He was definitely not putting up with this for another night. He definitely noticed that she didn’t deign to help with the hard part though and spent the day sulking at him and making comments designed to get under her skin and he did his level best to ignore her. It wasn’t until the next day, and another almost unendurable night of sharing her tent, before he finally found something. Of course, once he found the box she immediately jumped in the hole with him to see what it was, and he could see the clear disappointment on her face when it was just a board with some words carved into it. He saw it as a clue though. A clue to the secret that he would need to stay alive, making it the most valuable thing he could have found. 

Evi followed him back to Haven and kept insisting on helping so he finally relented and gave her a job. She could help him get to Vince and Dave and get whatever information they could out of the old codgers. When he found out that the mayor had died and they were having a wake for him, it was like Christmas came early. Not that he was glad about the mayor dying of course. That was tragic. But that kind of event would be the perfect time to get to Vince and Dave. He knew that Vince would be the harder sell. The old guy hated him for some reason, but Dave only mildly disliked him, so he sent Evi to Vince and took on Dave himself. 

The evening ended up being a disaster. Not only did he not get any information, but Evi had been electrocuted and was in the hospital which led to him dozing off in this uncomfortable ass chair as he waited for her to wake up. He would deny until his dying day that some part of him still cared deeply for her. She had been his wife. He had loved her once. Something like that doesn’t just get wiped away no matter how deep the betrayal. More than that though, he needed to know what she got from Vince, hoping that she got something and that it wouldn’t be a dead end. 

When she woke up, she immediately started in on the manipulation attempts again and he wasn’t buying it for a minute. He caught what she wasn’t saying though. She had seen him as her ticket back in. All that talk about wanting the glamour of the life back like they used to be. Audrey had been right, and he wasn’t falling for it. When she faked severe pain and he rushed off to get a nurse, she had no idea that he’d slipped a tracker in her pants pocket. What she’d just pulled had been one of her classic ‘one last chance’ speeches. That meant that she had gotten something from Vince and he had every intention of following her to see what she found. 

Duke had an advantage that Evi didn’t though. He didn’t need to case the place before they hit it. He already knew people’s schedules and how and when to get in. As soon as he realized where she was going to be, he slipped inside and was waiting in the basement when she got there. He would gladly have just gotten what he needed and gotten out, but Evi had the plank that he needed. When she tried to tell him that she had really meant what she’d said back in the hospital he just scoffed and shook his head. Would she never give it a rest? 

He already knew where the board, having checked it out while he was waiting for her, so he led her right to it which led to a hole in the wall hiding…an empty silver box. With a stupid latin quote inside. Love conquers all. How the hell was that supposed to keep him alive? He was more than a little disappointed and just wanted to go drown his sorrows. Not that it would be that easy with her following him. He just didn’t have the strength to fight her presence at the moment. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be alone anyway. He poured them both a glass of wine as she said, “I'm sorry that you didn't get your answers about your tattoo.”

“That's okay,” he said wearily. “Sometimes I think I should just let it go. Just let things be what they're gonna be.”

“Wouldn't it be great if we could just…let things go?” she asked wryly, seeing her chance while he was weak and vulnerable. 

“That's never been a problem for me,” Duke quipped. He’d let her go just fine. It was soon clear that she’d took the opposite meaning of his words since she was suddenly right up in his space. 

“Really?” she drawled suggestively. 

“It wouldn't mean anything,” Duke had to make sure that was clear off the bat. If he was going to let himself do this and god he just couldn’t bring himself to fight anymore right now and if there was one thing he needed it was stress relief. He wasn’t going to let her think this was a way back in though. Even if she tried to take it as one. 

“Then do it. Come on, Crocker,” she smirked, knowing that she had him hooked now, and sure enough, his lips crashed into hers seconds later and it didn’t take long before they were heading towards his boat and his bed.


	8. Chapter 8

The only reason Duke didn’t immediately kick Evi out the next morning, not being nearly crass enough to kick her out last night, was because she immediately came up with some ideas to get answers about the box. That led to him spending most of the day trying to get himself on either the guest list or the vendor list for the ‘wedding of the year’. At least Haven’s version of it. Anything to get his foot in the door to talk to the head of the Haven Historical Society who was a very difficult person to meet with in the best of times, much less when there was a big wedding in the family. He finally managed to get himself on the list to supply the wine, and wasn’t at all surprised when Evi argued herself into coming with him. 

What did surprise him was meeting Audrey there. And she was with Chris Brody too, which was even more surprising. It wasn’t until they walked away that Duke found himself confused as to why he had been so okay with the idea that they were apparently on a date. Not that he would presume to tell her what to do, especially given his own actions of two nights ago, and if she was happy then he would be happy for her, but his feelings when talking to Chris went well beyond that and it didn’t make sense because as soon as Chris walked away everything changed and he frowned. A trouble maybe? He would have to find out later. He had more important things right now. 

He was frustrated when the only thing he could get from the old lady was an offer to buy the box and even more frustrated when he ended up trapped in a shed by a freaking plant of all things. Did he seriously have to end up in the middle of every freaking crisis this town had? It was official. He was cursed. That was the only explanation. A freaking curse. When Audrey asked him to go check upstairs, he jumped at the chance. Anything to get away from his confusing feelings about Chris Brody and Evi’s even more clingy behavior. Unfortunately, the second of his problems had to follow him and start talking about getting away. Selling the box and using the money to retire in some small town in Mexico. 

Duke couldn’t deny that it was tempting. Living the rest of his life in luxury somewhere far away from Haven’s problems. He didn’t tell her that he wouldn’t even need the money from the box for it. But if he did, it sure as hell wouldn’t be with her, and he couldn’t leave right now anyway. He did agree to think about it since it was the only way to shut her up and he had things to do that didn’t involve sitting up here arguing about it. Once he confirmed that there was no escape upstairs either they headed back down and he noticed the plant that was about to snare Audrey unawares and he rushed over and tackled her. 

Audrey couldn’t help but cling to Duke as the plant stared at them. If it were possible for a plant to stare, but that was the definite impression she got from it. She could feel Duke leaning slightly against her, like he couldn’t bear to let her get far either and she could almost hear his heart beating out of his chest just like hers was. Most of it was from fear and adrenaline, but there was a little bit of it that increased when she got lost in his eyes for a second, which just happened to be when the plant withdrew and that was the last piece of the puzzle that she needed to formulate a theory and with it, a plan. 

Audrey drew Chris to the side, needing some distance from Duke right now, despite knowing that he would be the best to help her figure this out. Ever since she’d seen him and Evi a couple nights ago, she knew that her feelings for him were pointless. She’d lost her chance. Hence her agreeing to a date with Chris in the first place, and Chris would definitely be put out if she disappeared with Duke to try and figure this out. She should at least give him a chance to prove his intelligence before she wrote him off. It took a while but they finally got it all worked out and the root of the problem with the oldest generation solved and got them all out of there. Duke and Evi going out of there together and as cozy as they looked told her that she was doing the right thing trying to move on, and she knew that Chris didn’t see this as anything more serious than she did, so she didn’t have to feel bad about using him for it which was why she took him back to her place for their date. 

Duke had a few things to handle before heading back to the boat and when he got there Evi was waiting for him with a drink. He knew that she wanted an answer to them running away together and gave her a clear no. She, of course, had to assume it was because of Audrey but he assured her that it wasn’t. It was only a partial lie. Okay mostly a lie, but still partially not. He gave her the story about his father making him promise to come back with the troubles and never telling him why and how he needed to find answers to too many questions and all those answers were here in Haven and when he could tell that she’d stopped fighting, he walked away. He was tired and it was late. She could let herself out and he actually locked the hatch to his bedroom to make sure that she didn’t take his going to bed as an invitation. Just because he’d been weak enough to break once didn’t mean he was going to let it happen again. 

Audrey woke up the next morning with a kiss from Chris who proceeded to tell her all about the perfectly sweet day they had planned and Audrey started to wonder if they were actually on the same page after all. She had no idea how to handle that. She’d never really had the time or inclination to date much or have any kind of social life at all. She’d always been more the one night stand type and it had been forever since she’d even had one of those, so she wasn’t sure what the protocol was here. She decided to give him the day that he’d apparently put so much thought into and then see where they stood, which was most likely going to be nowhere, but first, she did have one piece of duty to see to. She still thought Nathan rigged the coin toss to get him out of the stupid career day, but she couldn’t prove it. 

The fact that she was almost relieved when there was an accident that called her into work and got her out of the rest of the date day was enough to tell her that it wasn’t going anywhere, but no sooner than she got to the scene of the accident she was waking up in bed again and was more than a little confused. She brushed Chris off as she tried to figure things out which made her notice Duke asking for the rent, and she shook her scatterbrain off and wrote out a quick check to hand him. When everything else happened the same as the day before, she realized what was happening and called Nathan to warn him about the accident and went to try and stop it herself. She didn’t have nearly enough information though. 

She was still trying to figure out how to stop it when she ran into Duke who amusedly told her that she forgot to sign the check. So much for being less absent-minded. She used his back to sign it and he headed off to the bank, leaving her to continue looking for the accident. She heard it before she saw it and immediately rushed around the corner, feeling her heart nearly stop when she saw Duke laying in the street. She fell to her knees at his side, tears streaking down her cheeks as she asked frantically if anyone saw what happened. She barely noticed him reaching out to her and gasping out her name as she tried to make sense of this through her panic. Duke couldn’t die. She couldn’t let him die. She took his hand and ordered him as sternly as she could to hold on, but it didn’t work. She watched him take his last breaths and then she was waking up in bed again. Audrey pushed Chris away and threw on the first thing she could find, not even caring that the buttons were crooked as she buttoned it up and rushed out the door to find Duke. When she saw him at the board, she jumped into his arms and kissed him desperately.


	9. Chapter 9

Duke had no idea what was happening here, but what could he do but go with it. It was everything he’d ever wanted after all. One hand slid over her neck and cheek back into her hair while the other one wrapped around her waist as he spun her around, pressing her against the beam as he kissed her back with just as much fervor. She let out a choked moan as her hands tangled in his hair and one of her legs wrapped around his waist pulling him in even closer. Just as Duke was starting to think that this wasn’t a dream, he got a dose of cold water when he heard a voice floating down the stairs. “Audrey? Everything okay?” Duke let go and took a few quick steps back as the familiar voice came around the corner. “You rushed out so fast…”

“I-I’m fine,” Audrey said quickly, trying to put herself back together. She hadn’t intended to lose herself in Duke like that. She didn’t even know /what/ she intended, but that was…intense. “I-I’ll meet you in the car.” She needed Chris gone, like now. Especially since she could see the pain and betrayal in Duke’s eyes before he closed them, clearly trying to get himself together too and he was breathing a little too uniformly to be normal. 

Duke couldn’t even bring himself to turn around, leaving his back to Chris, partially because he couldn’t stand to look at him right now, but mostly so the man didn’t see the clear bulge in the front of Duke’s pants. As soon as she heard the car door, he abandoned his breathing exercises to open his eyes again, hoping they weren’t going to betray him. “Audrey…” was all he got out before she started babbling. 

“I’m sorry, Duke. I know I shouldn’t have…but…you died…I saw you die and it was…I just couldn’t…I had to…just once…I know you’re with Evi and…and I’m sorry, but…”

Duke pushed his pain away out of concern for Audrey who seemed like she was on the verge of hyperventilating. “Okay, calm down. Just breathe,” he said soothingly, putting his hands on her shoulders, whether to provide comfort or keep her at arm’s length he wasn’t sure. “Just follow my breaths.” Once she was breathing again, he started with the only place he could possibly make sense of out of that frantic word vomit. “And what do you mean I’m with Evi?” 

“I saw you…the other night. I was sitting on the balcony and you were…I mean…”

“Okay, that was not us being together. That was me being weak enough to let my guard down /once/. It meant nothing and I don’t intend to make that mistake again,” Duke told her, not sure why he needed her to know that. “But that doesn’t give you the right to…” He was cut off by a car horn and he sighed and shook his head, stepping away from her again. “You should go. Your boyfriend’s waiting.” 

“Duke, wait, I…” was as far as she got before he was already inside the building, and she shook her head to clear it. It didn’t matter what she said right now anyway. He would just forget it the next time the day looped. She needed to get through this first and then she could figure out how to fix things. One thing she was more sure of than ever though, was that she /needed/ Duke Crocker like she needed air. And apparently he was even available. Chris would definitely have to go. 

The next few loops were spent with her ‘practicing’ how to dump him. She knew that eventually one of them would stick, but in the meantime, she was trying to find a way that didn’t make him look at her like she’d just kicked his puppy. She didn’t actually succeed in that before she managed to end the time loop, so she was kinda glad that he had some big business meeting overseas that he had to get to. At least she wouldn’t have to deal with the awkward encounters. She managed to use the issue that messed up her off day, to get Nathan to agree to another one and then she went looking for Duke. 

She found him at the Grey Gull and hesitated before going to the bar and ordering a drink while she tried to figure out what the hell to say and even how to get him upstairs so she /could/ say what she needed to say. Thankfully, he took the dilemma out of her hands when he came over and leaned on the bar next to her. “So, you’re here drinking in the middle of the day after sneaking out of here with a guy this morning. That’s never a good sign,” he said lightly, wondering what happened, but making it clear that she didn’t have to tell him if she didn’t want to. 

Audrey huffed into her drink, “Yeah, Chris was a one night mistake that will not be repeated.” 

“Yeah, I know a little something about those,” Duke chuckled derisively, before her tone hit him. “What did he do?” Duke asked worriedly, wondering if he was going to have to find him and kick his ass if he did something stupid. 

“Nothing. He was perfectly sweet. It’s just…” she trailed off and looked around. “Not here,” she tossed her drink back. “Maybe we can talk upstairs?”

“Yeah, okay,” Duke agreed, wishing he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He let his concern for her rope him into comforting her over a breakup and that was very much /not/ on his to-do list today…or ever. 

Once they were upstairs, Audrey pulled out a bottle of vodka and poured both herself and Duke a glass. She would need more than that one martini if she was going to get the courage for this. She noticed Duke raise an eyebrow at the straight booze as he took his drink from her and she sat next to him on the couch. “See, Chris only liked me because I was immune to his trouble. Just like Nathan only likes me for the same reason.”

“So I was right. He does have some kind of trouble,” Duke said smugly. 

“Yeah. When people look at him they can’t help but love him. He finds it irritating,” she explained. 

“That explains so much,” Duke said thoughtfully. “And I can get why you wouldn’t want to put up with that.”

“No, that’s not why…I mean…” she took a deep breath and a long sip of her drink for courage. “I wasn’t actually into him either. I was just…trying to get over someone I thought I couldn’t have and…”

Duke noticed her nerves and the way she was looking at him and started to form a theory as all the things that hadn’t made sense before slotted into place. The plant that was repelled by love leaving them alone when they were together, the way she always leaned on him when she was upset, the way she trusted him with her deepest secrets, the way she felt about Evi…sure all those things could be explained away in other ways, but this way they all fit together. He finally asked the question that had been nagging at his subconscious ever since the night he’d learned her secrets. “When you stood me up before…was that part of your whole not being able to decide whether to avoid me or not?” 

“Yeah,” she admitted. “And I’m sorry. I should have…handled that better.” 

“But then you decided not to avoid me…” he wanted to see what, if anything she would fill in there. 

“I hoped that you would try and reschedule. Give it another shot,” she admitted. 

Duke swallowed heavily and decided to take one more chance. He reached out and placed his hand on her cheek, fingers brushing through her hair. She leaned into the touch and they got lost in each other’s eyes. He had to make one thing known, but didn’t want her to take it as a rejection. “It hurt,” he admitted in almost a whisper. 

“I know,” she said, swallowing around the lump in her throat that the raw confession had caused. “If I could go back and do it all over…” she trailed off, not really able to form any more words at the warring emotions inside her. 

Duke pulled her forward and met her halfway, leaning his forehead against hers as her hand slid up his chest, over his shoulder, and into his hair. “What?” he whispered. “What would you do differently?” he needed to hear something from her on this before he could truly let himself fall. 

“I…I never would have let you slip away,” she breathed out. “I…” the rest of her words were swallowed in his kiss as his lips crashed into hers and it was just as overwhelmingly intense as the last time that he couldn’t remember and she kissed him back feverishly. As his lips moved to her neck she let out a mewling moan and she couldn’t stand the distance that sitting like this was keeping between them and she moved to straddle his lap.


	10. Chapter 10

Duke moved one hand to wrap around her back pulling her in tighter and he could feel his heart beating double time at the idea of what was coming. He had to know first though…He pulled back, carding a hand through her hair and pressing a charged kiss to her lips before asking desperately, “Audrey…tell me that…that this isn’t…isn’t going to be another mistake…please.” 

“Me and you could /never/ be a mistake,” she whispered earnestly. “Not for me, anyway.”

“For me either,” Duke whispered back before his lips were on hers again and he stood, carrying her over to the bed and laying her down gently, moving over top of her as her hands tugged at his shirts. He shucked them over his head before he started to unbutton her shirt as his lips moved back to her neck and her hands slid over his back and shoulders. Once he reached the bottom of her shirt, he slid his hands back up her stomach and over her breasts, pushing the shirt open in the process. Audrey sat up enough to slide it off her shoulders and throw off her camisole with it and her hands were already going to the front of Duke’s pants as she laid back down. “God…Audrey…please tell me you have some condoms up here, because I really don’t want to have to run back down to the boat right now,” he panted, rolling his hips against her as his lips moved down her collarbone, heading for her breasts. 

“Yeah…I do…we’re good,” she assured him as she got his pants open and then arched up off the bed as his lips wrapped around her breast, sucking it into his mouth. She quickly reached into her bedside table and pulled one out, pressing it into the hand he was holding himself up with since the other was busy greedily exploring her body. “Duke…please…” she gasped out, when it seemed that he was taking his time. They could do slow another time. Right now she just needed him. Completely. Needed to be his. Needed him to claim her. 

Duke sure as hell couldn’t say no to that one and moved away enough to let his pants fall the rest of the way to the floor, stepping out of them. When he saw that Audrey was removing her own pants, he turned his attention to opening the condom and rolling it on his aching erection, already moving back over her before he was even done, the second her pants were out of the way. He slid swiftly inside her with a strangled moan, letting his head fall onto her shoulder forcing himself to still. He didn’t want to risk ending this too soon. 

Audrey didn’t want that though. She wanted to see his passion not his restraint. She wanted to see him fall apart for her. To lose himself in her just as much as she wanted to lose herself in him. “Don’t…don’t hold back, Duke,” she begged. “Show me…show me how much you want me…make me /yours/,” she all but growled the last word. 

Duke’s breath hitched as he lifted his head, her tone telling him as much as her words of what she wanted. He wanted to be sure though so he drew his hips back and then slammed them forward hard making her arch off the bed with a choked, “YES!” Fuck if this wasn’t going to be quicker than he hoped, but if this was what she wanted who was he to deny her. He let all sense of restraint leave him as he kissed her possessively and pounded into her roughly, her nails digging into his back just driving him higher. He trailed a line of sharp nips and hard sucks over her neck and shoulders not even having enough presence of mind to leave the already forming bruises where they wouldn’t be easily seen and she cried out his name like a litany over and over as she met every brutal thrust with a lift of her hips. 

Audrey was definitely lost in him, just like she wanted, all conscious thought out the window and her entire existence wrapped around the powerful sensations and emotions that were coursing over and through her. Her hands gripped demandingly at his sweat-slick, chiseled muscles, not even noticing the light streaks of blood that she was drawing and when his lips met hers again, she met his savage kiss with the same aggressive urgency as his motions turned frantic and she could feel the tension coiling her belly too. When she felt him explode inside her with a primal grunt, her own orgasm washed over her with an overpowering intensity that nearly made her black out. 

Neither of them would realize for a long time that their complete surrender to each other and their love had quite a few side effects. Including tying together their very essences in a melding that was seldom seen on either world. Normally, it could go unnoticed when both parties were from the same world, but eventually they would realize that Duke was no longer aging, if they didn’t notice any of the other effects first. 

Duke rode out the wave, gasping for breath, as his brain slowly came back online and he buried his face in her neck just breathing her in and holding onto this moment for all he was worth. Audrey was in the same boat, fingers tangled in his hair, trying to remember how to breath and never wanting to let him go. Unfortunately, it couldn’t last forever though and he eventually rolled to the side, still panting, but not nearly as bad as before. 

As Audrey rolled to her side to follow him, she caught sight of the red tinting her fingers and winced. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you too much?” she asked worriedly. 

“Sweetheart, I am so far past okay that I couldn’t see it with a telescope,” he huffed a breathless laugh before turning to look at her and it was his turn to wince as he reached out to trail a finger lightly over the forming bruises down her neck and shoulder, barely noticing the darkening fingerprints that he’d left in her hip and the handprint on her forearm. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” 

“Telescope, babe,” she chuckled as she laid her head on his chest, pulling another laugh from him that she felt more than heard. She was going to be feeling this one for days. At least. Just like she’d wanted. “This was perfect,” she added with a happy sigh. She knew they would need to get up at some point. It was the middle of the afternoon after all. For now though, she was just going to enjoy laying here in his arms. 

As though he’d heard her thoughts, his arms tightened around her, mindful of the bruises he’d left, and he leaned his face into her hair, wondering how he got so lucky. He didn’t usually let himself go like that so completely. In fact, he didn’t think he ever had. No one had ever asked him to before either. And no one else had ever been as completely intoxicating to him as Audrey was. It was a long while before he suddenly remembered a few days ago. He hoped it wouldn’t make a difference since it was before they were together. It shouldn’t make a difference considering that she was with someone else last night. He still thought she had a right to know though given that it was so recent and Evi was apparently not going to be so easy to get rid of. “You should know…it didn’t mean anything, but…I slept with Evi a few nights ago.” 

“I know,” she sighed. “I saw you. Not the sleeping together part obviously. I’m not a creeper. I was just sitting out on the balcony when I saw you two heading for the boat all wrapped up together and all,” she rushed to add. “That was why I thought I couldn’t have you. That…that you were back with her.” 

“I wasn’t,” he assured her. “Not even a little bit. I was dealing with a lot and was vulnerable and…she’s persistent. I just…”

“I get it,” she said quickly. “As long as…um…” she trailed off realizing that she couldn’t exactly finish that sentence. 

“It won’t happen again,” he promised. “I have you now…don’t I?” he hated how weak that last part was as he realized the same thing she had. They hadn’t defined anything here. No promises were made. She could just as easily walk away from this. 

Audrey propped herself up on her elbow to look at him, taking a few deep breaths for courage before she told him, “I-I love you, Duke.” She had heard the worry in his words and knew what he was thinking. She had been about to say that before this started…before he’d kissed her and lit that unquenchable fire. It was even more true now than it had been then. 

Duke swallowed heavily as he could see in her eyes how much she meant every word and he lifted his head to kiss her gently. “I l-love you too, Audrey. And I’ll be yours until you get sick of me.” Everyone always did eventually, but he could grab whatever happiness he could until that day. 

“I can’t promise you forever. It’s still too early for that. But I can promise you that if we don’t work…it won’t be because I’m sick of you,” she said sincerely before she kissed him lovingly and felt him melt into it as he trailed his knuckles softly down her cheek.


	11. Chapter 11

When Duke eventually had to get up, he winced as the scratches on his back pulled against the sheets where they’d clotted and Audrey gave him an apologetic look, but before she could open her mouth, Duke leaned over and put his finger over her lips. “Don’t even think about it. I don’t regret a second of it.” 

“Okay. But let me go get some alcohol to put on them anyway just in case,” she chuckled, giving her own wince as her abused muscles stretched out. “And same goes to you,” she said amusedly causing him to laugh and raise his hands in a gesture of surrender. 

“You know, yoga can help with that,” he told her through the bathroom door as she went to get the first aid kit. “And can be done naked,” he added with a smirk. 

Audrey laughed and shook her head as he came out of the bathroom and she finished getting the alcohol wipes ready. “Maybe someday I’ll let you teach me if I ever have time for it. No promises on the naked part though.” She motioned for him to turn around so she could get to his back and made sure to get all the scratches, even the ones that hadn’t drawn blood. 

Once she was done, he turned and pulled her into his lap, both of them still naked, and kissed her sweetly. “No fair cutting out the best part,” he pouted. 

“You’ll survive,” she assured him with a grin. 

“For now, why don’t you go relax while I cook you up a nice dinner and then I’ll massage all the kinks out of those muscles of yours before I put new ones in,” he suggested with a grin of his own.

“Mmm. Be careful you don’t spoil me. A girl could get used to this kind of treatment,” she said with a lingering kiss to his lips before she moved off his lap to give himself a chance to make good on his promise. 

One look in her cabinets and he was rolling his eyes and looking for his clothes. “I’m gonna have to run down to the Cape Rouge to grab some supplies for dinner if I’m going to live up to the ‘nice’ dinner,” he teased. 

“Maybe I’ll just make you do all my grocery shopping from now on,” she joked back, making him laugh as he headed out the door. While he was gone, Audrey got dressed too, not completely comfortable walking around naked this early in the evening. 

By the time Duke got back, he had come to a realization, and Audrey frowned at the sudden downturn in his mood. Before she could ask, he said, “We’re going to have to keep us secret aren’t we?” 

“Why?” Audrey asked confused. 

“The last thing you want is anyone digging too deep into you thanks to your intimate association with a known criminal,” he pointed out. 

“Oh…right,” Audrey deflated and plopped back on the couch. “I guess my brain hadn’t rebooted far enough to have considered that yet.” 

Duke started dinner as they both considered the implications of that and by the time it was simmering and he could step away, he came to a decision and went to sit next to her on the couch. “I can live with that,” he assured her, reaching his hand out to brush her hair back from her face. 

Audrey sighed and leaned into his touch. “If it wasn’t for the troubles, I would be willing to just screw it all and run away with you,” she told him. 

“But you can’t leave right now any more than I can,” he said sadly. “We’ll be okay though. We don’t have to hide our friendship at least. Just the rest.” 

“Are you sure you can be okay with that?” she asked hopefully. 

“I’m sure. It’ll make managing Evi a little more difficult, but maybe I’ll take you up on your offer to try and get rid of her. It’s not like we both don’t have a hundred secrets already. What’s one more?” As much as he wanted to be with her completely, he knew that it would cause her far too many problems and couldn’t do that to her. 

“Yeah, I’ll start working on that Monday when I go back to work,” she promised. “Until then we’ll need to be careful with the way she watches your every move.” 

“And you’ll need to keep those hidden,” he said running a finger along the bruises on her neck. 

She pouted at that but nodded. “I wish I didn’t,” she had to say. 

“I’ll make sure that any future ones are more easily hidden,” he assured her, turning the pout into a smile and awakening some primitive part of him that he couldn’t quite put a name to at the knowledge that she liked being marked by him. “At least it’s getting cold enough that it should be easier to manage,” he told her as he got up to go check the dinner. It was already the first of October, so the weather was steadily getting colder. 

“And hopefully by the time it’s getting warm again we can find another solution,” she said, fully intending to do just that, no matter the risk. 

“Hopefully,” Duke agreed, but wasn’t holding his breath.

It wasn’t long after that before he was putting dinner on the table and they sat down to eat. “This is amazing,” Audrey said in awe after the first bite. “Where did you learn to cook so well?” 

“Out there on the sea, there’s no one but me. If I wanted good food I had to learn to cook it myself. Whenever I made a stop in whatever country, I always took a little time to sample the cuisine and get some recipes from the locals.” 

“Well, it definitely paid off,” she told him. 

“I’m glad. Because I plan to cook for you as often as I can get away with,” he grinned. 

“And I’ll definitely let you,” she chuckled. 

Once they were done eating, Duke told her to strip and lay on her stomach in the bed and then started with her neck and massaged all the way down her body until she was almost boneless. Once she flipped over she frowned at him. “You’re wearing far too many clothes.” 

Duke laughed and pulled his shirts back off. “That’s as far as I’m going until the massage is done. Otherwise it won’t /get/ done,” he told her amusedly. 

“I can live with that. It’s still a great view,” she grinned, reaching up to run her hands over his muscular chest as he massaged the front of her shoulders. 

Duke forced himself to continue the massage even as she threatened to wreck his self-control with her wandering hands. Eventually he had moved far enough down her body that she couldn’t reach anymore and once he got to her feet and got them good and worked out, his lips joined his hands on the trek back up and he used his fingers and tongue to bring her to completion once before he finished undressing and made love to her slow and gentle. This time was as much an emotional surrender as last time was a physical one. 

By the time Duke was stilling over her, Audrey actually had tears in her eyes. For someone who had spent so much of her life with no connections at all, this was more than a little overwhelming. She had never felt so loved in her life and would be hard pressed to say which of their two joinings was better. Little did she know that Duke was just as moved as she was with much the same thought process before he finally rolled to the side, and she followed immediately, not willing to let any space between them if she could help it. Once she managed to form words again, she asked hopefully, “Do you think you can get away with staying tonight?” 

“No one who would go looking for me saw me come up here,” he told her. 

“Good. Because I don’t want to let you go yet,” she said with a happy sigh, snuggling tighter against his side. 

“Neither do I,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her head. 

“And if you can stay out of circulation tomorrow too, I have the day off and we can spend it right here before going back to reality on Monday?”

“I’ll do my best,” he promised. Even if he had to turn off his phone. 

They were both asleep not long later and Audrey woke up to the smell of breakfast and smiled brightly. He slid a cup of coffee over to her as she walked up without taking his attention off the stove and she ignored the coffee and just wrapped her arms around his stomach and pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades before resting her head there. “I could get used to waking up like this,” she sighed happily. 

“What, to breakfast?” he joked. 

“To /you/,” she replied in all seriousness, knowing that the response was as much armor as a joke and not willing to let him get away with it. The hand that squeezed her arm in the closest he could get to a return hug from this position told her that she’d made a good choice. When he tapped her arm in a universal ‘let go’ gesture a moment later, she did so and grabbed the coffee, moving to the table as he dished out the food onto plates. 

After breakfast, they took a long leisurely shower, taking the time to get to know each other even better and they were both starting to prune by the time they got out and the rest of the day was spent curled up on the couch, alternating between conversation, comfortable silence, and a little bit of making out, but they didn’t make it back to the bed until after a Duke-cooked dinner, made from her own ingredients this time. They both knew that if he left to go get some from the Cape Rouge, then he might not be able to come back. Over the course of the day he had ignored a few calls from Evi and answered one from the Gull which was about a minor problem that he could and did put off until tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Audrey once again woke up to the smell of breakfast followed by a shared shower. As she got ready for work, she suggested, “Why don’t you hang up here for a couple hours before you head down and then if anyone spots you, you can just say that you were up here fixing the sink or something while I was at work?” 

“That sounds like a good plan. She can’t have eyes everywhere at once so I could easily have slipped up here without her noticing at some point,” Duke agreed. 

“Exactly,” she nodded. “And you’re always welcome to slip up here anytime you can get away unnoticed, in case it needs to be said.”

“And you can always come see me on the Cape Rouge, but we’ll have to be more discreet there,” he returned the invitation. 

She gave him a long lingering kiss before she left for work. “I love you, Duke.” 

“I love you too,” he smiled brightly, holding her for another moment before kissing her one more time and letting her leave. Since he had nothing else to do up here, he decided to kill the time by cleaning up, washing both the dinner and breakfast dishes and doing a little more spot cleaning before he could reasonably leave. 

Audrey hadn’t been at work for long before she realized that her little break from reality was over. They had a body. They hadn’t been back from the scene for long before Duke showed up and she walked into the middle of a bickering match with Nathan that ended with Nathan threatening to arrest him, like always, but aside from an offhand comment as he left, Duke refrained from dragging her into the middle of it. 

Audrey and Nathan were on the way back to the station after talking to the guy’s wife and learning that they might have a kidnapping on their hands too, when she got a text from Duke telling her to hold off on getting rid of Evi. He needed her to help get information from the rev since she was an unknown. Audrey sent back a quick okay, feeling bad for not having put any thought into the problem yet. She had been rather busy though. Murder and kidnapping trumped borderline stalker exes. 

It was late by the time they got the case solved and she wished she had more answers for Duke about the tattoo, having noticed him trying to talk to Cole Glendower on the way to the ocean, but she didn’t have any more than he did. She wished she could just go home, but she knew that Duke wouldn’t make it by tonight anyway as late as it was so she might as well just buckle down and get her paperwork done. 

They were about twenty minutes into it when Nathan said amusedly, “You know we’re inside right? You can take your coat and scarf off now.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m still a little cold,” she lied. 

Nathan frowned worriedly. “I can see you sweating from here. Are you coming down with something?” 

Audrey sighed, knowing that there was nothing for it now, so she took off the added layers, fully intending to tell him that it was none of his business if he asked. “There. Happy?” 

Nathan might have left the bruises on her neck alone. They may or may not be hickeys, but the handprint bruise on her arm worried him. “Is that why Chris Brody left town? Was he hurting you?” 

Audrey rolled her eyes and said, “No, he wasn’t hurting me.” 

“Then who…”

“Okay, do you really want to know that much about my sex life?” she asked impatiently, making it clear where the bruises came from without naming names, as much as she hated letting him think it was Chris. 

Nathan blanched and shook his head. “Not really, no. You tell me those bruises are all consensual and I’m done asking.”

“They’re all consensual,” she said seriously and thankfully the subject was dropped, but the uncomfortable silence settled over them. After a while Audrey couldn’t take it anymore and said, “I do appreciate the concern, Nathan. Really. It’s just…a little embarrassing is all.” 

Nathan gave her a reassuring smile and nod. “Long as you know I’m here if you need help,” he told her. 

“I know. Thank you,” she told him, and the tension disappeared and the last hour of the paperwork went much smoother before she finally went home and all but collapsed in bed. 

Over the next few days, Duke managed to sneak up for a couple evenings, but didn’t want to draw too much attention by being away from the Cape Rouge overnight too often. He’d gotten away with it last time by telling Evi that he was on a run for a job, but using that excuse too much wouldn’t work. Audrey had started her campaign to get Evi out of town, but it wasn’t going very well so far. She was trying from the law enforcement angle first, using blackmail and intimidation to make it clear she wasn’t wanted here, but Evi resisted everything. Usually using Duke as an excuse, so it was time to move on to the other side of the law. If nothing else so as to make sneaking around with Duke easier. 

Before she could do anything there though, there was another case that came up. Shots fired at the Gull. When Nathan commented on how on edge she was, she pointed out both that Duke was her friend and that she lived right upstairs from the Gull so it was a little close to home. When they got there, Audrey forced down the visceral reaction she had to Evi applying first aid to Duke’s hand and walked over casually. “You okay?” she asked, unable to keep the worry out of her voice. 

“Yeah, it’s just…a few bumps,” he assured her. 

“He’s doing his too cool for pain thing,” Evi joked. 

“Course he is,” Audrey said amusedly, leaning on the bar facing Duke as Evi thankfully left. “Alright so who’d you piss off this time?” 

“Maybe he pissed me off,” Duke said wryly, taking the opportunity while they were mostly alone to slide his arm closer to her and loop a few of his fingers around her hand. “Is that a possibility?” 

Audrey grinned as she played with his fingers back. “Yeah, it’s least likely.” Duke didn’t really have a temper that way, and definitely didn’t break into a gunfight out of the blue. “You got a name for me?”

“No, I don’t have a name, but all you have to do is go look for a guy in a suit with a bullet hole in his right arm,” he quipped. 

“Anything else?” she asked, enjoying the game they had going with their hands. 

“He…liked to spin a coin on my bar like a dreidel?” Duke replied amusedly, just getting an exasperated look from her in return. “I gave you the license plate number, now it’s your job to go and find him,” he pointed out, threading their fingers together and running his thumb over the back of her hand. 

Audrey leaned closer and said almost conspiratorially, “Duke…you’re not telling me everything.” All that got in return was a series of ridiculous confessions that might have made her laugh if the situation was less serious, but she definitely caught the double tap of his thumb to the back of her hand before he let go, which clued her in that someone was coming from behind her, so she leaned away with a, “Hey Nathan. All you missed is Duke not telling me everything.”

“I take offense to that,” Duke joked. 

“Sorry I missed it,” Nathan said sarcastically before getting into his news. “So the plates are registered to Cornell Stameron. He’s the vice president of the Maine Associated Bank.” He paused and looked straight at Duke. “You rob them lately?” 

“Can I get a break, I’m injured,” Duke tried to play up the scratch on his hand and it was all Audrey could do not to laugh. “I told you guys everything I know.” 

Audrey didn’t believe that for a minute. She could tell when Duke was holding back. He was good, but she was better. Still, his refusal to tell even her when they were alone told her that there was a reason he was keeping mum, so she would drop it for now and they started following the clues. She was somehow unsurprised to find Duke at the scene of another shootout when they tracked the guy down and from there things just got crazy. She did realize why he was keeping secrets though. A promise to a kid. That was as good a reason as any she supposed. 

Audrey’s plans for Evi got pushed back again thanks to Nathan losing his job at the end of the day and she took him to the Gull for conciliatory drinks where he proceeded to get completely smashed. She just hung out at the end of the bar with Duke and laughed at him most of the night. Especially when he started dancing. Duke grabbed Evi’s phone to take a picture since neither of them had their phones with them and she told him to send it to her before heading to the bathroom. When she got back, Duke’s good mood was gone. “What’s wrong?” 

“Evi. She just got a text from Reverend Driscoll. She’s working with him and at least had something to do with Nathan losing his job and who knows what else,” Duke said quietly, tracking her with his eyes as she walked around handing out shots. 

“I see,” she said coldly, narrowing her eyes at the oblivious Evi too. “I’ll take care of this. Just make sure she’s near her phone in about ten minutes,” she whispered in his ear before she slipped out to head upstairs. 

Duke nodded and waited a minute after she left before he went to take the tray from her. “I’ve got this. Why don’t you watch the bar for a while?”


	13. Chapter 13

She noticed that there were a few people waiting there for drinks so she headed over. No sooner than she got them taken care of her phone was ringing. She didn’t recognize the number, but that wasn’t anything new in her line of business so she answered anyway. When she heard her unique passphrase from Fallen Angel, she sucked in a sharp breath. This was the first time she’d gotten one of these calls in over three years. She didn’t even bother getting someone else to take care of the bar and just slipped outside. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”

“I’ve considered lifting your punishment, but only if you do a few things for me,” she told Evi. 

“What do you need?” Evi asked seriously. 

“First, my network has informed me that you’ve been working your way back into Duke Crocker’s good graces?” 

“Yeah, I have. It’s slow going, but I’m getting there,” she told him. 

“He’s been more recalcitrant about accepting jobs lately. I need something to hook him back in,” Audrey told her. “Tell me everything you know about him and his life in Haven.” 

It took quite a few more questions before she came to the conclusion that Evi didn’t know anything and was being led around by the nose like an idiot. “I need you to get to Oregon in two days. I might have a job for you. Can you do that?” 

“I…I can’t,” Evi made a split-second decision. “I’m working a job here in Haven and I can’t abandon it. If you can give me another week, I can be there.” 

Audrey considered that before agreeing. “Very well. But do not leave a trail. Travel by car. There can be no records.” The sooner she could get her gone the better, and asking her to bail on another job would be out of character. 

Damnit. That meant that she would have to leave in four days. She didn’t dare as for another extension though. This was her career on the line. She could get back in the game finally. She didn’t even question how Fallen Angel knew where she was, what she was doing, and even her new cell number. The organization had spies everywhere. “Okay. I’ll get this job wrapped up in time. What do you need me to do when I get there?” 

“Just wait for my call. I’ll know when you’re there,” Audrey told her before hanging up abruptly as she always did. She wasn’t about to go back downstairs now and draw suspicion, so she pulled out her encrypted laptop and checked on a few things, got a few orders sent, moved a few pieces around, and then called it a day, sliding the phone and laptop back into their hiding places. 

It wasn’t long before she heard her door opening and knew that it was Duke. He had permission to use his landlord key to just come in so that he didn’t have to stand outside and potentially draw attention while waiting for her to come to the door. He locked the door behind him and pulled her into a lingering kiss. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he said sheepishly. 

“Me too,” she grinned. 

“So, what happened with Evi? After the phone call, she lit out of there like her tail was on fire. Is she gone? Do you know what she knows?” 

“Not yet. She managed to talk herself into staying for a few more days to ‘finish up a job’ here. I couldn’t really argue with that. She doesn’t know much of anything. She’s just following the rev’s orders. I did get that the rev had information that would supposedly help you, but she doesn’t know what that information is. At least not that she would admit to me,” Audrey said apologetically. 

“Well maybe she’ll admit it to me,” Duke said. “Maybe some part of her is actually trying to be loyal for once.” He realized the absurdity as soon as he said it, but it was his only shot at this point. He knew that he wouldn’t get it from the rev. 

“I would offer to put some police pressure on the situation, but I’ve pretty much burned my bridges with her while trying to get her out of town.”

“Yeah, but that’s still a good idea. Maybe I can talk Nathan into helping. I’ll bring her by the station tomorrow and see what we can’t work out,” Duke said thoughtfully. 

“Stay for a little while?” she asked hopefully. 

“Like I could say no to that?” Duke asked with a grin, pulling her into a long kiss that soon found it’s way to the bed. Unfortunately, he had to run right after though. Evi may be gone, but Nathan was still downstairs and even as plastered as he was he would soon notice both Duke and Audrey missing. He just told Nathan that Audrey’d had too much to drink so he helped her upstairs and then did the same with Nathan, taking him home. By the time he got back from that, Evi was back so he couldn’t sneak back upstairs. At least it would only be a few more days and then she would be gone and things would get so much easier. 

The next day, Duke used the excuse that Nathan was helping him with his parking tickets to get Evi into the precinct and told Nathan that it was thanks to Evi that he got fired to get him to help shake her down. Before they could get to it though, Duke noticed a puddle of blood coming out from under the bathroom door and soon got run off by the new chief. Things only got worse though because the whole station ended up in a lockdown thanks to the idiot chief not being in the know about the troubles and then Evi ended up getting whatever it was. He wanted her gone, not dead, so he was more than a little worried. 

Duke didn’t let it deter him though. Audrey was working on the trouble angle and there wasn’t anything he could do to help her. Whether Evi survived was out of his hands, but getting answers wasn’t. He felt bad for losing his temper with her, but what else could he do? Either she was getting paid a lot of money not to ask questions or she knew more than she was letting on. He didn’t buy her trying to help him for a minute. Especially after she told Nathan how she got in too deep and was clearing her debts by going along with it. She couldn’t have it both ways and he knew which one was more believable. 

When she escaped the building, braving the gunmen to ‘get him answers’ and then got killed for it, he felt even worse. It was all he could do not to punch the rev in his smug face when he came in, but he had played tougher parts before. There was only one way to get the answers he needed now. To make sure that Evi didn’t die in vain. He played up the scared and confused act that he knew the rev would fall for and then it was just a waiting game. To find out what he would have to do to prove that he was worthy. 

Once they were all released, he headed for Audrey’s apartment instead of the Cape Rouge. He knew that she wouldn’t be there yet, but he sat on the couch with his head in his hands as he waited for her. He was so lost in his inner turmoil that he didn’t even hear her come in and his first sign of her presence was the gentle hand running through his hair as she sat next to him. “I’m so sorry, Duke,” she whispered. 

“It’s my fault,” he said shakily. “I pushed her too hard…she was trying to get them to tell her…she really didn’t know…”

“It’s not your fault, Duke,” she said sincerely pulling him close and his head rested on her shoulder. She ignored the few tears she felt there like she knew he would want her to. “She knew what was waiting out those doors. She made her own choice. You tried to stop her. You tried…so many times to get her out of town…to protect her from all this. There was nothing more you could have done.” 

“I could have believed her.”

“Why would you have?” Audrey asked. “She’s lied to you, used you, manipulated you, and betrayed you at every turn. It’s /her/ fault you didn’t believe her. Not yours.” Duke couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t say anything. Just soaked up the comfort that she was offering. “Stay tonight?” she asked, knowing that he didn’t need to be alone right now. When he nodded, she led him to the bed, helping him out of his outer layers, but not going any farther. Not tonight. 

Once they were in bed, he took her in his arms and buried his face in her hair, just breathing her in and letting her presence steady him. “I talked to the rev. I’m going to play along with him and get the answers that she was trying to.”

“Okay,” Audrey said with a nod. “Just…don’t go somewhere that you can’t come back from. Don’t let him push you too far.”

“I won’t,” Duke promised. “I won’t risk losing you too that way. I can’t.”

Audrey propped up on her elbow, leaning over him and wiping the teartracks from his cheeks as she pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You won’t lose me, Duke. No matter what happens. I’m not gonna give up on you.” 

“Okay,” Duke said almost inaudibly, wishing that he could believe that. 

“You know I’ll have my part to play in this though, right? He will never trust you as long as I stand by you,” she needed him to understand that. 

“I know.”

“I also need you to know that anything I say out there, especially when he’s around, I don’t mean it. I love you and I believe in you and nothing will change that,” she assured him. 

Duke swallowed heavily and nodded slowly, pulling her back down and holding onto her for dear life, desperately hoping that she was right and that he wouldn’t lose the best thing that ever happened to him. “I love you, Audrey,” he whispered into her hair before the emotional day caught up with him and sleep claimed him.


	14. Chapter 14

Duke spent the next few nights with Audrey, reveling in their newfound freedom, despite hating how they’d gotten it, before he went back to his boat. They didn’t want to get too sloppy after all. They’d almost been caught by Nathan once and Duke wouldn’t admit how much it galled him to have to hide under the bed as Audrey got up to get the door. He was getting more than impatient waiting for word from the rev though. He wanted to get this over with. 

Duke let Audrey know when the rev contacted him, but didn’t have any information yet on what he had him doing. Audrey figured it out when they ran into him in the woods with a rifle hunting little troubled girls. It wasn’t too much of a stretch for Audrey to act appalled. She just had to make herself forget that Duke was playing a role and didn’t intend to actually hurt anyone. Especially not little girls. 

When Duke’s side of the camp had trouble keeping their fire lit, the guys nominated him to go beg for tips from Audrey, so he did. “I hate how good you are at this,” he whispered as she kept up the act…needing her to confirm that it was still just an act. 

“I wouldn’t have survived this long if I wasn’t,” she told him, barely moving her lips just in case any of the others were lip-readers. “As long as you know it’s just acting.” 

“I know,” he let a slight smile twitch onto his face. “They talked me into coming over here to beg the secret of the fire.” 

“It’s probably been long enough for us to have argued about it so here,” she picked up a knot of grass and showed him the trick, making it clear with her body language that she was only telling him grudgingly and then he was gone again, and her heart ached at the absence. Pretending to hate him was killing her. She just hoped that this would be over soon. 

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one since the hunting party soon took off into the woods at night which was insanely stupid, but thankfully no one died. Especially little girls. Audrey was relatively certain that she noticed Duke leading his group in the wrong direction more than once though and she knew it wasn’t a mistake. Duke was a damn good tracker. She was sure of it when she caught a signal from him that no one else would have picked up on, telling her where to go as he led his group another way. 

Audrey was sorry that she had to kill the rev and couldn’t blame Duke for being pissed about it, but when she noticed one of the rev’s men nearby, she played up her anger at him too, even asking him if he would have killed that little girl too. She saw the brief flash of anguish in his eyes before his masks went up to full and realized that she’d gone too far. She couldn’t take it back here though, but she did reach out and give a quick squeeze to his hand to try and reassure him, but he just pulled his hand away and walked off without another word. 

Audrey wanted nothing more than to go after him, but she couldn’t yet. She still had to get yelled at by Nathan and then go back to the station to turn in her badge and gun during the investigation. Once that was done, she rushed back home, hoping to find Duke there and it ended up being easier than she expected. He’d apparently closed the Gull early since it was deserted and he was sitting at the bar in the dark drinking. She walked over and sat next to him, too afraid to reach out after the way he reacted last time and before she could say anything, he asked, “Do you really think I would have killed those girls?” 

“No, Duke. I don’t. Not for a second. One of the rev’s men was watching. I was trying to make it look good. To give you more credibility in case one of them know something,” she said gently, finally taking a chance to reach out and brush his hair back from his face heartened when he didn’t jerk away this time. “I’m sorry if I went too far.” 

“You did,” he said shakily as he poured himself another drink. “Since we’re alone now, am I actually going to get an answer to my question? Why you killed him when I was so close?” 

“I didn’t have a choice,” she said sadly. “Shooting him in the leg wouldn’t have stopped the knife from coming down. If anything it would have sped it up. I didn’t have an angle to get the right arm to make him drop it. I had to save that girl.” 

Duke nodded with a quiet, “Okay.” He reached over to pour her a drink too which she gladly took. “If it was the only way…no one else needs to die for my quest for the truth.” 

“I’ll do everything I can to help you find the answers you need Duke,” she promised. 

“I know,” he said simply. 

“Are we…okay?” she asked hopefully. 

Duke took a shaky breath as he turned to her, brushing his hand over her cheek as he tucked her hair behind her ear. “We will be.” Even knowing that it was an act, hearing her accuse him of wanting to kill those kids hurt like hell. He would get over it though. Just because it /was/ an act. It wasn’t like he’d never taken an act too far before. 

“Can we go upstairs or…or do you need me to go?” she asked, leaning into his touch. 

“Just…give me tonight?” 

“Okay,” she nodded sadly, draining the rest of her drink as she got up. She leaned over to press a kiss to his temple before turning to walk away, but he caught her wrist before she could get far and pulled her back for a real kiss. He wanted her to know that he wasn’t upset with her specifically. Just upset in general. He knew that she got it when she gave him a sad smile and squeezed his hand before she headed out. 

The next morning, she woke up to the smell of breakfast and grinned, moving over to the stove to wrap her arms around him and rest her head between his shoulder blades in their normal morning routine and just like that everything was okay again. 

On her way to work, Audrey stopped by the Haven Herald to talk to Vince and Dave. She subtly tried to influence them towards helping Duke. If there were secrets in this town there was a good bet that they knew them and she knew that Duke never managed to get anywhere with them. She heard from Duke later that it had halfway worked. Dave was helping him, but Vince was still stonewalling. 

After his partially fruitful visit with the brothers Teagues, Duke headed out to the store to get some stuff to cook Audrey a nice dinner when she got home from work, but that plan got scuppered when he noticed someone in his boat. That led to an unexpected partnership and a busy few days while they followed the clues. He didn’t get much time with Audrey since she had a busy few days too, including a visit to the real Lucy Ripley. He and Sasquatch had just unearthed the bigger box and started going through it when she got back, and it was all he could do not to kiss her right there in the open. He’d missed her while she was gone. The distraction of Dwight trying to steal the box brought him back to the present though. 

When Duke hit the ground and it looked like Dwight’s blood had absorbed into his skin somehow, he suddenly felt like he was burned alive, but in the best possible way if that was even possible. He felt invincible and euphoric and most importantly…the /need/ to kill someone. To kill Dwight. That was the biggest reason he fought it as hard as he did. So much so that he was shaking with the effort. Sure, he wasn’t happy with the big guy, but he sure as hell didn’t want him dead. Didn’t even really want him hurt. Even through his internal struggle, he saw the alarm on Audrey’s face even before any sound came out and spun just in time to stop the crowbar headed for his back and shove Dwight backwards. He was more than a little surprised when he flew through the air and landed about a hundred yards away in the water. 

Audrey could see how freaked out Duke was and she couldn’t blame him. She grabbed the box and led him inside to see if they could find any clues. He started off pacing and trying to use the superstrength again and Audrey let him. She knew Duke as well as she knew anyone, but she had no idea how best to handle him when he was freaked out. That was something that was very out of character for him. He never let anything get to him. Once he finally sat down though, going through the journal, she leaned against him to provide comfort and absentminded ran her fingers through his hair in a calming gesture. 

Duke recognized his father’s handwriting in the journal and skimmed through, but there wasn’t a whole lot of explanation on anything. Names, dates, details on their deaths. It wasn’t until he found the entry telling him to kill Audrey that he really believed what he was seeing and he threw the journal down. “Oh hell no. Not a freaking chance.”

When he turned to look at Audrey she could see his eyes practically begging her to trust him, and she just laid her head on his shoulder as she said, “I know, Duke. I know you would never hurt me. It’s okay. We’ll figure this whole thing out.” She stayed on the boat with him for the first time that night, despite the risk of Nathan showing up looking for her. He was more important right now.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, once Audrey headed home to get ready for work, Duke jumped in the shower. When he got out, he found his father standing there and was completely knocked off balance. What his father told him just made it even worse, but he easily decided that he wanted nothing to do with this particular family legacy. He was almost glad to see Audrey in the graveyard while he was burying the stupid box. If Nathan wasn’t there too he would have been happier. Especially since Nathan actually seemed glad that he could end the troubles and Duke had to remind him that it just involved committing murder. That shut him up thankfully. 

Audrey could see that Duke was just barely holding it together so when he and Nathan saw the chief wandering around, she didn’t hesitate to send Nathan to talk to him so she could take Duke with her to check into the gravedigger. “You okay?” she asked as they got into his truck. 

“Define okay,” Duke sighed. 

“I know you, Duke. You’re not going to abuse this trouble,” she assured him. 

“You don’t understand,” Duke said anxiously. “You don’t know what it feels like. That rush. It…it’s like pure heaven. It’s…”

“And you’re the strongest person I’ve ever known,” she told him seriously. “You can fight it. And I will be right here with you helping in any way I can.” 

Duke let out a relieved breath, almost believing her words as he reached over to take her hand. “Thank you,” he all but whispered. 

When they got to the location and Duke saw the rev, he wasn’t about to go anywhere with him. Until he threatened Audrey. Then Duke didn’t have much choice. He wouldn’t even let him warn her. Duke wasn’t about to do nothing though. He and Audrey had enough codes between them by now that he knew she would pick up on this one. He scratched a cross in the doorframe as he leaned against it and then a noose with an A in the center of it before walking away with the rev. 

When Audrey came out to find Duke and his truck gone she was more than a little worried. He wouldn’t have abandoned her like that. No way. She called Nathan for a pickup while she looked around for a clue. She immediately picked up the cross as representing the rev which didn’t surprise her all that much given the ghosts all over the place and the fact that he’d been so fixated on Duke before he died. The noose with an A in it meant that he had threatened her to make Duke go with him. Not that Nathan believed that.

“It just looks like scratches, Parker,” Nathan said with a roll of his eyes. “I mean, yeah if you squint you can kinda see a line connected to a circle with the A in it and a t under that, but…”

“It’s a cross, not a t,” Audrey had to say. 

“Okay, so even if you’re right and it’s a message, whose to even say Duke put it there? It could have been there before. And even if it /is/ from Duke, how can you be sure you can trust it?” Nathan argued. 

Audrey had to bite her tongue at that. Sure she could tell him that she and Duke had come up with a dozen codes together and she knew his style, but that would skirt too close to her secrets. She could live with the one about her relationship coming out given the circumstances if not for the fact that it could lead to her other darkest secrets. Besides, it wasn’t like Duke’s life was in danger. His trouble made him the closest thing they had to a messiah. They wouldn’t hurt him. The best way to help him would be to follow the case, solve the trouble, and get rid of the ghosts so they couldn’t bother him anymore. 

When Duke realized what the rev and his men wanted him to do, he couldn’t believe that they thought for a minute that he would go along with this insanity. Then he realized that he was surrounded by guns and they handed him a knife. He was still ready to fight his way out of there though. Right up until Audrey and Nathan were brought up with guns to their heads. Hearing Nathan accuse him of working with the rev didn’t surprise him, but he could see that Audrey didn’t believe it and that was all that mattered. He tried to stand his ground and forget about the gun to Audrey’s head. He wouldn’t kill all those people even to save her life and she would hate him if he did. 

He felt a little better when Audrey started doing her thing and trying to talk the troubled guy down, but not a whole lot. The ones holding the guns wouldn’t go anywhere just because the ghosts did. He tried frantically to come up with some way to get them out of here, preferably including the hostages in the shed, but he was coming up blank. It didn’t help that now he had his father whispering in one ear and the rev whispering in the other and the gun was still pointing at Audrey’s head. 

It wasn’t until they started telling him how Audrey was going to kill him, that he found his footing and stood his ground. They’d made a mistake with that one. Duke’s faith in Audrey was unshakable. They could find a way through this. One way or another. When they put the knife back in his hand, he gripped it tight, ready to fight once it was time. What he didn’t anticipate was the troubled kid rushing him, grabbing the knife, and stabbing himself with it. Duke let go and felt the panic overtake him along with the rush of bloodlust. No, he had to fight it. He couldn’t let himself give in. Especially not now. Audrey had faith in him too and he would be damned if he was going to disappoint her. He forced himself to stay still, even as Audrey got ahold of a gun and started waving it around. He didn’t move a muscle until the rush faded and then he slipped away.

Audrey and Nathan had the situation under control and he couldn’t stay there with the kid he’d just killed and all those unconscious people that he was supposed to kill. He just couldn’t take it. He couldn’t go far either though. Not when Audrey was still in danger. He stopped in the trees, close enough to watch, but not be seen, until he was sure that everything was okay and then he headed back to his boat for a stiff drink or seven. 

As soon as they had everything urgent handled, Audrey took off. Nathan tried to point out how much there still was to do but she told him to just leave her half and she’d deal with it tomorrow. She needed to go check on Duke. When Nathan tried to tell her what the ghosts had said, that Duke couldn’t be trusted and that he was going to kill her, she snapped at him. Told him that Duke was her friend and she trusted him and she wasn’t going to hear another word about it and then walked out. 

Nathan worked for a little while longer before his worry took over and he went to check on Audrey. Finding her apartment trashed and her missing was bad enough, but when he found Duke’s whistle with a broken cord in the middle of the mess, he saw red. He’d tried to tell her. She just wouldn’t listen. He shouldn’t have let her go. He should have gone with her. He should have done anything but just let her walk right into the lion’s den alone. He headed for the Cape Rouge, looking for either Duke or clues. 

Duke was on his fourth drink when Nathan stormed in accusing him of hurting Audrey and he had enough. He tried to point out how stupid that was, but it didn’t make any difference. It never did. That was why he never bothered trying to fight his reputation. People only ever saw what they wanted to see. He wasn’t just about to let Nathan think that he would ever hurt Audrey though. Even after he noticed that damn tattoo on Nathan’s arm. He knew how to earn the trust of people like Nathan though and managed to get him calmed down enough to let him help find Audrey. 

When they finally found her the next night in the same old boarding house they’d been in that morning, he was kicking himself. They’d let themselves get distracted by the alien guy doing a runner and hadn’t even looked. How much torment could they have saved her if they’d just looked? And now they were trying to deal with a damn alien mothership? Could they ever get a freaking break around here? When it was all over and Nathan still tried to tell him that he was just like his father, that was the last straw. He knew that Audrey would be okay now and if he didn’t get away from Nathan he was going to punch him in the teeth. Not that Nathan wouldn’t deserve it, but the chances of it making him bleed and then Duke go all hulk wasn’t worth it, so he just walked away. Audrey would find him when she could.


	16. Chapter 16

Duke headed back to Audrey’s apartment, partially to make sure she was okay when she got home and partially because he wasn’t going to let her stay up here alone at least until after he got the locks changed. While he was waiting he cleaned up the mess that was left and then started pacing. It was almost sunup by the time he got there and it was almost lunchtime by the time she came in, and he only took long enough to make sure she was alone before he swept her up in a searing kiss. 

Audrey melted into the kiss, holding him tightly. “There you are. Are you okay?” she asked worriedly once he let her go. 

“Am /I/ okay?” he asked incredulously. “You were just kidnapped, tortured, and god knows what else and you’re asking if /I’m/ okay?”

“Well I know I’m okay, but…you left,” she answered both of his unspoken questions.

“I…” Duke sighed. “I could see that you were okay and if I hadn’t left I’d have ended up hitting Nathan and then who knows what else if my curse kicked in and…”

“What did Nathan do?” Audrey cut him off to ask. 

“Just the usual, throwing around stupid accusations. I was just so stressed and on edge I couldn’t take it right then, you know?” 

“What kind of accusations?” Audrey asked, leading him to the couch and curling up in his lap. 

“It doesn’t matter,” he shook his head. “I’m sorry I left. I should have stayed with you.”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t matter. Nathan would have never agreed with you coming along for the next part anyway and it would have just cause more tension if we’d insisted,” Audrey assured him. 

“What next part? Is that what took you so long to get home?” Duke asked. 

“Can we just talk about that tomorrow?” she asked tiredly. “Right now, all I want to do is get cleaned up and changed and then fall asleep in your arms.” 

“Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you need. Come on,” Duke actually picked her up to carry her to the bathroom and started to draw a bath instead of the shower. Audrey didn’t know if she had the strength to stand up in the shower right now anyway so she wasn’t going to argue. While the bathtub was filling up, he knelt in front of her and took his time checking any and all injuries, and peppering kisses wherever he found them. Once the water was ready, he joined her in the oversized tub and washed her slowly and lovingly as she did the same for him and then curled up in his arms until the water started getting cold. 

As they were getting out of the tub and drying off, they heard a knock on Audrey’s door and she sighed. “Wait here,” she whispered to Duke before wrapping a towel around her and going to the door. “Yes Nathan?” she said just loud enough for Duke to hear and relax, knowing that he would be on edge and ready to attack if needed. 

“I just wanted to check on you and make sure you’re okay,” Nathan told her. 

“I’m fine. I was just cleaning up and then I plan to sleep until morning, so…”

“Right. I’ll let you do that then. See you tomorrow Parker,” Nathan said uncomfortably before leaving. He knew that he probably shouldn’t have come back, but after dropping her off he realized that he should have at least walked her up to make sure she made it okay and wanted to make sure that the kidnapper hadn’t been lying in wait or anything. 

Once she closed and locked the door, she turned around to see Duke stepping out of the bathroom in his sweats with his own towel draped over his neck and a few beads of water still glistening on his bare chest and wished that she wasn’t quite so exhausted. “Come on. Let’s go to bed,” Duke suggested, already heading in that direction. He hadn’t exactly slept the last couple nights either in the mad dash to find her and now that the adrenaline was gone, he was as ready to pass out as she was. Audrey took off the towel and finished drying off before throwing some pajamas on and climbing into bed, snuggling into his waiting arms and they were both asleep in minutes. 

The next morning over breakfast, Duke told her, “I cleaned up the mess that the kidnapper left and found a flash drive mixed in with the shards of the lamp.” 

“Oh good. Thank you,” she said relieved. She’d been too exhausted yesterday to notice, but she would have been more than a little worried when she did. 

Duke reached up for his pendant and popped it open, catching the flash drive as it fell out and handed it to her. “I guess it’s a good thing that my whistle was planted here and Nathan found that before he kept digging,” he chuckled. 

“I don’t know that I’d say a /good/ thing, but something like that,” Audrey agreed amusedly. She would never consider anything that made Duke’s life harder and got Nathan more suspicious of him as a good thing. She looked around, considering a new hiding place for it until she could get another lamp. 

“Suggestion?” Duke asked. 

“Shoot.”

Duke grabbed her step stool and pulled it over under the currently off ceiling fan and opened the electrical panel. “How about here?” 

“Perfect,” Audrey passed it up to him and he slid it in and then replaced the panel. “Thanks.” Now she didn’t even need to worry about a new lamp. 

After they ate, it was still pretty early so they headed out to the balcony to have some coffee while Duke changed the locks and she updated him on the Colorado Kid’s survival and the message she left herself. He abandoned the locks half done to go look through the pictures she got and tease her about leaving herself better messages in the future. It was clear how on edge they still were when they heard footsteps and went into full battle mode. 

Audrey had left her gun inside, but surprisingly felt perfectly safe when Duke picked up the screwdriver and moved like a stalking cat towards the stairs. It ended up not being needed since it was just Nathan to let her know they had a case. Why he couldn’t just use the phone like a normal person she didn’t know. There was a bit of a dust up when Nathan accused Duke of being the hunter and Audrey barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes and when they got to the cars she took Nathan to task over his warning to Duke about staying away from her. She clearly wasn’t meant to have heard it, but she wasn’t going to let him get away with it either. No one chose her friends for her. 

Duke finished up with the locks, having already given Audrey the new keys, and then headed into town to see what he could find on the hunter and when he figure it out, he felt the bile rising in his throat as a heavy weight settled on his shoulders. He took out a calendar and did the math. Forty-nine days. That was all they had left. Forty-nine days and he could lose her forever. He slammed the archival book closed and headed back to the bar to have a few drinks to steady his nerves before having to face Audrey and give her the news. 

To say that he was surprised to see her with a dog was an understatement, but he put it out of his mind. There were more important things to talk about. He managed to keep himself together, just barely, as he told her the pertinent facts, but before they could say anymore, Nathan was driving up. Duke didn’t want to deal with a confrontation right now so he just gave her arm a comforting squeeze before he walked away. 

Audrey was regretting telling Nathan he could show her the dog park now. He’d just seemed to enjoy dogs so much that when he offered, she hadn’t even thought twice about it. She didn’t really want to go right now, but she couldn’t exactly keep the dog anymore so it called for a change of plans. She only stayed long enough to make sure Cookie was settled and that Tor would be able to take better care of him this time and then she asked Nathan to take her home. 

She waited until Nathan drove away before she let out a whistle, noticing Duke on the deck of his boat, and jerked her head inviting him up. Once they were inside, he pulled her into a nearly crushing hug and buried his head in her hair and she hugged him back just as tightly. Forty-nine days just wasn’t enough time to say goodbye to him. Forever wouldn’t have been enough time to say goodbye to him.


	17. Chapter 17

The rest of that night was spent clinging to each other and reminding each other just how much they were loved, but the next day, once they’d processed, Audrey got down to business. “Okay, so I have forty-eight days to teach you how to run the organization,” she said over breakfast. 

“I’m sorry, what? Teach me to what?” Duke asked in shock. 

“Who else would I leave it to?” she asked amusedly. 

“I don’t know. One of your lieutenants?” he pointed out. 

“No,” she shook her head. “You understand why I do this. You get the purpose behind it. You share my moral lines. There is no one else I would trust to take over for me.” She needed him to know that it wasn’t just because she loved him. He would never accept it just for that reason. 

Duke took a steadying breath as he considered it before saying, “Okay, on one condition.”

“What’s that?” 

“You don’t just accept this. You have to fight it. I’ll learn what you need me to so I can take over /if/ you’re gone, but you can’t just let this happen without a fight. Deal?” 

“That’s an easy deal to make,” she said as she slid into his lap leaning her forehead against his. “Because there is no way I’m leaving you without a fight in the first place.” 

“Good,” Duke said relieved as he pressed a short kiss to her lips. “And I’ll be fighting right by your side.” 

“I never doubted it for a minute,” she whispered lovingly, caressing his cheek in her hand and giving him one more kiss before sliding off his lap. She started with showing him the rest of her hiding places and what was where before asking him to grab the drive from the fan while she took the one that was hidden in the hollowed out wheel of her duffel bag and grabbed her encrypted computer. “Okay, so this drive here,” she pulled out her keychain and unscrewed the fox figurine to reveal the hidden drive, “has to be in this slot before you even turn the computer on. Otherwise the whole thing will be wiped. You can find something other than a fox to hide it in though,” she chuckled. 

“I’ll just keep it where I put the other one. No one else knows this pendant opens,” he told her. 

“Good enough,” she nodded as she put it in the slot and then told him the twenty-digit alphanumberic passcode that was a random mix of letters and numbers. She wrote it down for him too with instructions to burn that once he had it memorized to which he rolled his eyes. That much was obvious. “These two drives here work in concert. Each one has half the metadata so using only one will get you jibberish,” she told him as she put the other two drives in once the computer was booted up. For today she just showed him how everything was setup and organized and how to use the encryption keys to get to the information. She knew that he wasn’t a big technology person so she went slow and into more explanation than she would have with anyone else. Luckily he was still smart as a whip and a quick study at anything he put his mind to. 

They spent the next two days holed up in her apartment going over the different aspects of the organization…with frequent breaks of course…before she had to be back at work on Monday. He had the passcode memorized by then, and had practiced typing it with a stopwatch until he could do it perfectly and she watched him burn it. 

Before she went back to work, he had to at least try to talk her into taking it easy for this last bit of time, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She had to keep herself busy and be useful otherwise it would all hit her too hard. She did take his advice about telling Nathan, agreeing that the more people working to prevent it the better and on that note, she also told Claire. 

Of course, as soon as she gets into work they have a case…and a rather gruesome one at that. By the time she figured out what was going on and just how bad it was, she knew that there was only one solution and she called Duke. She had to argue with Nathan over her bringing him along, but she wasn’t about to tell Nathan why she really needed him. She knew that she had to tell Duke though. As much as she wanted to protect him from this for as long as she could, he would need the time to come to terms with it before having to actually do it. 

Once they were in the car, she told him all the details of the case, the fertility clinic, the fact that his kids were already being turned and how many more potential people would be turned or killed, and even threw in some math regarding if only a quarter of them turned or activated their own curse in some other way and how many people they would kill before he cut her off. “What are you getting at?” he asked dangerously. 

“There’s only one way this can end, Duke,” she said sadly as they pulled up at the address they were heading to. “And I am /so/ sorry to even have to ask this of you. You know I wouldn’t if there was any other way…” She was cut off by a scream coming from nearby and they were both out of the car and heading towards it in a split second. Duke rushed straight to the girl to check on her while Audrey tried to chase down the car and shoot out the tires. 

Duke realized that she was turning and he knew that Audrey was right. There was only one way this could end and that guy that just sped off clearly had no remorse for what he was doing. If one death could save so many, how could he not. He still had to make clear as they got back in the car once she left in the ambulance, “I hate this. I swore that I would /never/ use this curse.”

“I know,” Audrey said sadly. “I’m open to suggestions if you can think of another way.” 

“I can’t,” Duke sighed. “But I’m sure as hell going to keep trying.”

“Good,” Audrey nodded. “And so will I.” She didn’t tell him yet that she had no intention of letting him do it alone though. That was an argument that could wait. 

Finding the guy’s home and seeing the pictures of the kids that he’d raised and realizing that they were on the run just drove the point home to them both even more that this had to be stopped one way or another. They finally managed to track him down, but he had his ten-year old son in the woods so they took off, and Nathan and Tommy joined the chase having just caught up with them and stopped him just in time. Like he usually did, he rushed to the kid while the cops handled the rest and sure enough, he was in shock just like the others which meant that he was going to turn too. 

“Get Tommy and the boy out of here,” Audrey told Nathan.

“Why?” Nathan asked suspiciously.

“I only need Duke,” Audrey said carefully.

“Why? Nathan asked again. When Audrey didn’t answer, he figured it out and looked at her disgustedly. “You should have told me.”

“You would have tried to stop me.”

“You don’t know where this ends,” Nathan said coldly.

“I know that it saves lives today, Nathan,” Audrey told him firmly. “And countless others down the line. Please just take them and go.” Nathan did, but shot her one more disdainful look as he did. 

Audrey took a few deep breaths as she walked over to Duke and held out her gun. “No,” Duke said as he pressed it back down. “I’m not doing it like that.”

“It’s the easiest way,” she said regretfully. 

“I know. And that’s why I can’t,” Duke said, voice shaking with the knowledge of what he had to do here. “I can’t make this easy. I have to /feel/ it. I have to look in his eyes. Feel his life fading. If it’s easy then I risk…” he couldn’t form any more words, the tears already forming in his eyes at the thought of it. 

“Okay,” Audrey whispered, closing her eyes as a few tears leaked from them. 

“Wait for me back at the car,” Duke said hauntedly as he walked over to the dying man on the ground. 

“No,” Audrey said shakily as she followed him. 

“Audrey, please…”

“No, Duke. I am /not/ letting you carry this burden alone. We do it together. It’s not up for discussion,” she said sternly, kneeling on the other side of the man from Duke. 

Duke could tell that she wasn’t going to budge and he didn’t know if he was glad of it or not, so he would just leave it be. He took a deep unsteady breath before reaching out and covering the man’s nose and mouth, feeling him immediately start to struggle. He felt Audrey’s hand cover his, adding her own pressure there and her other hand slid into his hair, gripping the back of his neck comfortingly as he hung his head, anguish rolling over him. 

Audrey could barely breathe herself as she leaned forward and touched her forehead to Duke’s as he reached up to grip her arm like a lifeline. Almost like he was begging her not to let go and she massaged her fingers into the back of his neck and through his hair, keeping the pressure on his other hand. Enough pressure that it was /both/ of them killing him. She forced herself not to wince as Duke’s grip on her arm strengthened and his eyes started to glow. She knew that it would bruise, but she didn’t care. She could tell that he was still trying not to grip too tight otherwise her arm would be broken by now. It seemed like forever before the last of the light faded from Harry Nix’s eyes and he jerked away from both of them, turning his back. 

Audrey wiped her tears as she walked over and around to his front, lifting both of her hands to his cheeks to wipe away /his/ tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wish I could make this better, but all I can do is remind you of how many lives this saved.” 

“I wish that made it better too,” he managed to say, voice rough with emotion and she wrapped him in a hug as he clung to her tightly.


	18. Chapter 18

They both ignored Nathan’s looks as they left and went home to lose themselves in each other to try and forget the horrors of the day. It was a good thing that they’d gotten better about leaving marks in places they wouldn’t be seen, though Duke did apologize for bruising her arm back there once he noticed it. Consensual bruises during sex was one thing, but that was different. She just brushed it off though, assuring him that it was fine. 

Audrey completely understood Duke’s desire to insert himself on their next case and quite willingly fought Nathan to include him. He needed to prove to himself that he could still do good too. She was pretty much in the same boat and she could see the weight lift off his shoulders when he used his curse to save Daphne from the car and get her up the cliff. It didn’t help completely though as she learned when Lady Justice came for him. He did tell her after that at least half of it was just trying to push her to the edge and make her call the figure out. She hated that it wasn’t /all/ of it though. 

It seemed like they barely had a chance to rest, and between the cases, trying to solve the hunter thing, find the Colorado Kid, and Audrey teaching Duke how to run the organization, they didn’t really. Duke was running more and more of the organization for her as he picked it up which did take a little bit off her full plate. That was part of the reason why they jumped on the trip to Colorado now that they had a name for the Colorado Kid. Sure, there would be some work involved, but it would be as much a vacation as anything else. A romantic weekend getaway. Not that they told Nathan that part though, obviously. 

Once they were in the air, Duke told Audrey, “You know, I’m pretty sure that this is the farthest I’ve ever been from the ocean in my life.” 

Audrey laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I believe it. Thank you for coming.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. A whole weekend to ourselves, work or not, is a blessing,” Duke assured her. “Even if it is too far from the water.” 

When it ended up raining their entire trip she laughed at him. “You wanted water,” she teased. 

“Remind me to be more specific in the future,” he grumbled amusedly. At least they came away with some information and even more relaxation. Learning that James Cogan was Audrey’s son was definitely a shocker though. Even more so when Duke learned a week later that Nathan was his father. He didn’t waste any time telling Audrey despite any promises he made to Nathan. Her trust was a lot more important to him than Nathan’s, no matter how well they were getting along these days. 

Audrey couldn’t help but love Duke even more when he bonded with the little girl in her office, envious of his ease with interacting with her. She still teased him about being the same mental age though and Duke just laughed. When she learned that the kid was mind-controlling Duke, she felt awful for leaving them alone. It wasn’t like she could have known though. She just knew that being controlled was one of Duke’s greatest fears. The girl’s power did end up coming in handy with getting answers about what was coming for her though, as much as she hated those answers. 

Duke got volunteered to drive Ginger and her father to a new safe house while Audrey and Nathan worked on the cleanup from the rest of the case, and by the time Audrey got home that night, Duke was just driving up and he followed her up to her apartment and pulled her into a loving hug. He knew what she was going to say, and sure enough… “If my leaving in this barn can stop the troubles…”

“I know,” Duke said almost inaudibly. “But we still keep looking for another way.” 

“We only have ten days,” Audrey reminded him. They’d been counting down ever since the initial forty-nine. 

“We still keep looking,” Duke said firmly. 

“We will,” she promised. “But if we don’t find one…”

“I know,” Duke said again, pressing his lips to the top of her head and breathing her in. “I know,” he whispered heartbrokenly. He would never ask her to put the entire town above her life. He knew that she could never live with that decision and it would destroy her just as surely as her leaving would destroy him. 

Audrey pulled back and looked him in his wet eyes as her hands reached up to his cheeks. “Promise me you’ll be okay. You’ll…you’ll let me go and…and move on. Be happy. Promise me that.”

“I can’t,” Duke sighed leaning his forehead against hers. “I can promise I’ll let you go. I can promise that I’ll survive. I can’t promise to move on or be happy. Not without you.” 

“Promise to try at least?” she asked hopefully. 

“Okay. I promise to try,” he relented, more to make her feel better than anything else. “But we’re still doing whatever we can to prevent it without sacrificing the town to the troubles in the process.” 

“Of course. Like I said before, I’m never leaving you if I have a choice,” she assured him. 

They had hope once they learned that James supposedly knew of another way to solve the troubles without her having to leave, but they didn’t end up finding him until the meteor storm started and Arla had kidnapped Audrey and then basically traded her for James. Duke pulled off the act of his life to get Arla to trust him enough to bring James to him…and Audrey and Nathan. When Audrey had to go inside after James, Duke felt his insides turn to ice and he wanted nothing more than to go with her, come what may. Someone had to stay and watch Arla though and since James was Nathan’s son too, it had to be him. 

He was more than glad when Audrey came back out, but those hopes were dashed when she said that there wasn’t another way and that she’d just come to say goodbye. She started with the easy ones of Vince, Dave, and Dwight and then Nathan. While Nathan was going after the others to try and get them to come back and help stop this, Audrey kissed Duke deeply. “There aren’t words for how much I love you, Duke. Never forget that. Even if I have to.”

“I won’t,” he promised. “I’ll remember for the both of us. I’ll never stop loving you, Audrey Parker.” He kissed her one more time before Nathan came back and they separated as she walked towards the barn. He’d already promised to stop Nathan from messing it up, so when Nathan tried to go after her, he lived up to that promise, despite the tears still shining in his eyes. He didn’t even bother to deny it when Nathan accused him of loving Audrey too, hoping that would make him stop and think. Make him realize that loving her meant letting her go. It didn’t work though and Nathan managed to distract him enough to get his gun and from there it all went to hell. 

Duke didn’t dare rush Nathan with him holding a loaded gun and being as unstable as he was right now. At least not unless it became necessary and he was glad when the fed guy came to try and talk some sense into him. He clearly wasn’t listening to Duke. He was very much /not/ expecting straight-laced detective Wuornos to shoot an unarmed man in cold blood though. Sure, Nathan had been crossing lines for a while in his attempts to stop this while infiltrating the guard, but this was a whole different story. 

He was a little more worried about saving Nathan’s life at the moment instead of puzzling over that since Jordan was still shooting at him. He didn’t think he’d made a kill shot when he put her down. He definitely hadn’t been trying to at least. But she had stopped firing either way so whatever happened, happened. His attention was soon drawn to the beams of light coming from the fed’s body where Nathan had shot him and then the barn starting to implode. He didn’t even need Nathan’s orders to know that he had to at least try to save Audrey. Even if he went down with her. Letting her go for a purpose was one thing. Letting her be destroyed in the barn was completely different. He did take a second to make sure that Nathan would survive though before he literally dove in after her.


	19. Chapter 19

It seemed like just a few seconds for Duke before he was suddenly falling into a fish tank in what he learned was Boston and that caused a headache and a half. Learning that six months had passed and he’d been declared dead had him wanting to beat his head against the wall. Unfortunately the handcuffs were currently preventing that. He had to get out of here and find Audrey. That was his first priority. Thankfully, the universe sent him a savior by the name of Jennifer and she helped him escape and let him use her phone to try and figure out where to go next. 

Audrey’s first call would have been to him, but his phone had been fried by the fish tank. She would have tried Nathan next, but his number was apparently disconnected. Calling the station got him nothing other than that Nathan didn’t work there anymore, so her next option would be Vince and Dave. When he learned that she hadn’t called them either, he was starting to lose hope. It had taken him a whole day to get out of that hospital. More than enough time for her to have made contact if she was able. If they were going to find her, he would need Nathan’s help. At least Dave was able to help with that much and tell him how to find Nathan. 

Duke wasn’t particularly surprised that the guard wanted Nathan’s head on a platter, which was why he argued against going back to Haven, but Nathan was stubborn. He grilled Jennifer for everything she’d heard the entire drive, and apparently put together the most absurd plan he possibly could have, and if he had told Duke anything about it before broadcasting it to the guard he might have been able to talk him out of it, but the beans were already spilled. Not that he didn’t try, of course. 

“Okay, show’s over. Your plan isn’t really to let Audrey kill you. I mean, you were just…putting one over on the guard right?” Duke asked hopefully. 

“No, that is the plan,” Nathan said seriously.

“Okay, I’m not really up on what’s going on, but that is a bad plan,” Jennifer chimed in.

“It’s the only way to stop the troubles,” Nathan tried to reason. “Everything that’s happening in this town is my fault.”

Duke couldn’t actually argue with that so he tried a different way. “Audrey’s never gonna go for this.”

“Audrey was willing to walk into that barn and have her personality stripped away, to forget everyone she ever cared about. Audrey was willing to die to stop the troubles,” Nathan argued.

“Let’s just say you’re right. That means for the troubles to end, you have to be Audrey’s true love. Are you sure about that?” Duke asked trying to make him realize how stupid this was. “I mean, I didn’t even know you were together.” 

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my entire life,” Nathan said coldly. “Just because we weren’t together doesn’t mean that we didn’t have a real connection.” He walked off leaving a speechless Duke behind. It was Jennifer tugging on his arm that finally got Duke moving to where Dwight was waiting on them.

Part of Duke wanted to call Nathan on his delusion, but right now that delusion was the only thing keeping him alive. He needed to buy time and find another way out of this, but the first priority had to be finding Audrey. Except apparently the first priority was taking care of the trouble that was trying to kill them with tornadoes. Then they could turn to finding Audrey. 

While Nathan worked his cop resources, Duke had other resources to check. They’d moved all Audrey’s secret stuff to Duke’s boat a few days before she left, so he had no trouble offering Jennifer Audrey’s apartment in the meantime until they could find her. He hoped that having that connection to her might help her hear something more. Or even make Audrey more of a real person to her and get her off those stupid meds so she /could/ hear more. 

Once Duke got her settled and managed his brother, the first thing he did was sweep his boat for bugs. Audrey would have his head if he was reckless enough to forget that, even if it wasn’t a habit for him already after being away. Once he was sure it was safe, he pulled out the burner phone, sad to see that there were no voicemails. Even if Audrey hadn’t considered Vince and Dave, she would have left a message for him on this one. 

He got a little worried when he tried contacting the organization and got nothing. All of the phones were disconnected. He had hoped to use that spy network to keep a look out for her, but now he knew he had to find out what had happened in the last six months. He started with the encrypted computer and checked the emails which told him most of the story and a check of the bank accounts told him the rest and he closed it with a curse. Audrey would be gutted when they got her back. The organization was done for. Along with their spy network which was about the worst thing possible right now. He shut everything down and put it all back in the hiding places, knowing that she would want to see for herself when she got back. Jennifer was the only hope now. He didn’t expect much from Nathan’s resources. 

Duke was worried when he found out that she was still in the barn. How the hell were they supposed to get her out? It was nothing compared to the spike of fear he felt when he learned that she would die if they couldn’t. He was quick to stop Jennifer from telling Nathan that part. As unstable as Nathan was already he would just make everything so much worse. Especially when he came after Jennifer hard enough to shut her down. Duke was much better at playing it cool no matter how badly he was panicking inside. 

He shouldn’t have called Nathan when they found the damn door. He should have followed his instincts and kept it to himself. He let himself be blinded by their current friendship and did the right thing and it came back to bite him in the ass like it always did and now they were surrounded by guns trying to force Audrey to kill Nathan, which was stupid since it wouldn’t even work. At least, he knew she wouldn’t do it. Then the biggest problem of all…she wasn’t even Audrey anymore. She was called Lexi now and he had to step in and pitch the idea of getting Lexi to fall for Nathan to end the troubles instead. Like things couldn’t get any worse.

He should have known better than to even think that because lo and behold…they did get worse and he was freaking possessed. On the plus side, if it could be called that, he finally got close enough to ‘Lexi’ to see the truth in her eyes. She was still Audrey. At least he thought so. He wasn’t completely positive until she just stood aside and let the kid possessing him kill his body to end the trouble. He let her get away with it for the moment though. He would corner her once she was done for the day and he had a little damage control of his own to do. 

Once he handled his brother and Jennifer, who was heading back to Boston now that it was all over and she was normal again, he lay in wait for Audrey to come home. He waited until he saw her out back looking hesitantly upstairs before he went out. She spoke before he could say anything though. “So, I used to live /here/?” she pointed up from the deck as Duke came out the door. “What was I? Broke? I mean…it’s nice and everything. It’s a little nautical.”

“Well I’m glad you like it,” he smirked. “You owe me six months rent.”

Audrey laughed. That was so Duke. “I just tried to save your life. Shouldn’t I get the first month free?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about what happened down in that basement,” Duke said, realizing that she had no intention of coming clean even though they were actually alone now. Apparently they were playing the game. “You just stepped aside and let Tyler try to take me.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I just…I…I didn’t want to get stabbed. I was scared,” she lied, looking down at the floor and shifting nervously.

When she tried to walk away, Duke moved in front of her. “See, that’s where I get stuck,” he said, meeting her eyes and definitely seeing Audrey there. “You jumped out of that barn. Went down in that basement. I guess I’m just having a hard time believing that you were scared.” He paused to give her a chance to say something but when she didn’t, he decided that he would have to be blunt. “I think you knew that my curse would kick in and save me.”

Audrey knew that she was probably caught, but she couldn’t just give up that easily. Not out here in the open like this. He really should have taken her upstairs first. “I really wouldn’t know the first thing about it,” she said as she brushed by him to walk away, twirling her hair, trying to get him to follow her up. 

“But Audrey Parker would,” Duke called after her, seeing her steps falter like she was trying to make a decision. “Isn’t that right…Audrey.”

Audrey huffed, “Damnit Duke.” She turned around and gave him a hard look before flicking her eyes back towards the restaurant and then upstairs. 

Duke winced as he got it and said a little louder, “Why don’t I show you where Audrey lived?” 

“Might as well,” she shrugged, getting back into the Lexi persona as she followed him upstairs. The second the door locked behind him, she jumped in his arms kissing him desperately and he returned it with just as much fervor.


	20. Chapter 20

“God, I thought I was never gonna see you again,” Duke whispered as he peppered her face with kisses and caresses before finding her lips again. 

Audrey’s hands were exploring him just as much. When she thought about how close she came to losing him. To forgetting everything about him. To not being Audrey anymore…it was terrifying. It was worse than death. Being back in his arms was everything. When Duke went to pick her up and stumbled, it reminded them both of his leg wound so Audrey led him to the couch, curling up in his lap and laying her head on his shoulder. They had a lot to catch up on before going to bed anyway. “Since mine is probably going to be shorter, I should catch you up on my news first,” she told him. 

“Yeah, probably. I have a /lot/ to tell you,” Duke said wearily. 

“Well first, I’m pretty sure the barn is completely gone for good now, in case you didn’t figure that out already.”

“We thought so, but the confirmation is nice.”

“Second, something I found out in the barn…I’m not entirely sure it’s true since I don’t know how trustworthy the source is, but…according to someone in there…you and I are soulbound,” she dropped the bomb.

“I’m gonna need a little more than that,” Duke chuckled. 

“Well, there was a guy there, he kept trying to tell me that I wasn’t really Lexi, but I didn’t believe him until the weird stuff started happening. He grabbed my arm at one point though and then got all upset, talking about how I ended up in a soul bond with someone else and questioning me about who. Of course, I didn’t remember anything but Lexi at that point, so I didn’t have any idea which he figured out soon enough and dropped it and we got back to finding the door,” she explained. 

“Okay…” Duke said thoughtfully as he wrapped his mind around that. “So, it sounds like he was someone who knew you at some point and was apparently involved with one of your personalities if he was upset about you being bonded to ‘someone else’.”

“That’s what I was thinking too. But how would he know?”

“I don’t know, but it does sound like he did somehow, which means he was probably telling the truth. Did he mention anything about what it means?” Duke asked. 

“Not really, no. Not that I can remember right now anyway. Everything is still a little fuzzy,” she told him. “Hopefully it’ll clear up soon. You don’t seem too freaked out about the idea?” 

Duke shrugged. “Well first of all, I don’t really know what it means yet, so there’s nothing to be freaked out about. Second, I just spent almost a week thinking you were dead, plus almost two months before that thinking I was going to lose you forever anyway. I don’t think there’s anything that’s gonna freak me out if it means I get to keep you.” 

“I see your point,” she said, running a hand through his hair happily. 

“Besides, I kinda suspected /something/ was going on anyway,” he admitted. 

“You did? How?” she asked curiously. 

“You didn’t notice how we started to develop some kind of sixth sense for each other before you left?” 

“I did. I just thought…I don’t know…we were getting closer and more familiar with each other, but now that you mention it…”

“Being familiar with each other couldn’t tell me where you were at any given time or when you were hurt or how you were feeling when I wasn’t anywhere near you,” he pointed out. 

“That’s true,” she admitted. “I mean, it was still pretty faint, but it /was/ there.” 

“Either way, no matter what it means, I’m perfectly happy be bound to you in any way,” Duke said softly, brushing his knuckled down her cheek. 

“Me too,” she sighed happily, giving him a loving kiss. 

“I just wish I knew more about what to expect with it,” he chuckled. 

“Me too,” she said again with a chuckle of her own. “So your turn. What news do you have?” 

“What do you want first? The town or the organization?” he asked. 

“Town first,” she told him. “Just in case we get interrupted, I need to know what’s going on and how I’m gonna need to play things going forward.”

“Okay, so Nathan has this crazy idea that you’re in love with him and he’s your one true love and since Jennifer could hear the barn and heard Howard tell you that killing the one you loved would end the troubles, he came up with this stupid plan.”

“And you went along with it? You didn’t tell him the truth?” Audrey asked, not sure if she should be hurt or not. 

“I thought about it, but the guard wants his head on a platter. The chances of him being the key to ending the troubles is the /only/ thing keeping him alive right now,” Duke pointed out. 

“Ugh, which means that it’s more important than ever to make sure no one finds out about us. Then the guard will kill him and switch to trying to force me to kill you, and I don’t care /how/ many lives that saves, it will /never/ happen.” 

“Yeah, hence the reason I didn’t say anything to Nathan. I at least wanted to wait until you got back and get your input.”

“I appreciate it,” Audrey sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know if I want to stay here at all right now. I mean…I tried, you know? I sacrificed everything going in that barn to end the troubles and /Nathan/ was the one who screwed it all up. Now I’m supposed to stay here and work my ass off cleaning up his mess while armed gunmen try to force me to kill people I love?”

“Hey, I get it. Really. You want to split, we can split. But it’s not gonna happen now. Not while they’re watching so closely. We have to get them to let their guard down first and that’ll give you some time to think about it and make sure it’s really what you want,” Duke told her. 

“You’d come with me?” she asked hopefully. 

“Like I’d let you leave without me,” Duke scoffed. 

“That was the only reason I was hesitating. I know you’ve been staying here because of the troubles, so…”

“I was staying here because of a promise I made to my dad before he died. Once I learned why, I didn’t give a shit about that anymore. I was only staying for you,” Duke told her. 

“Then it’s settled. We get the guard to ease up and then we take off when their backs are turned,” Audrey decided. 

“Sounds like a plan,” Duke nodded. “But what’s that gonna mean for Nathan?” 

“Ugh!” Audrey threw up her hands in defeat. “We can’t give him a heads up. He’d never let us go, even if it meant telling the guard.” 

“And either way he’s dead,” Duke sighed. 

“You know what? He killed our son with the barn. He doomed this entire town in the process. Why should we have to sacrifice to save him from the consequences of his own actions?”

“Consequences, sure, but death?” Duke said warily. 

Audrey huffed. “You’re right. But I’m not just going to sacrifice the rest of my life to cleaning up his messes either. While we’re waiting to get the guard off our backs, we can also try and come up with something to keep him alive once we’re gone.” 

“Fair enough. And then we’ll see how things settle,” Duke agreed. 

“Okay, so news about the organization now. How’s it doing?” she asked. 

“It’s…dead,” Duke said with a wince. 

“What?! What happened?” 

“Well, when the barn was going down, I jumped in to try and get you out before it was completely destroyed. I didn’t realize how weird time was in there and when it spit me out a minute later, six months had passed here,” Duke tried to get himself out of hot water first. 

Audrey sighed and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m not blaming you, Duke. Just trying to understand what happened.” 

“Well as best I could tell from the emails, without anyone running things, it all went haywire. Then the feds came in. About half the organization was wrapped up by them and the rest are in the wind. I checked the accounts and they got the main account, but all your hidden personal accounts are still intact and there aren’t any signs of them being monitored.”

“Yeah, those are all routed through so many intermediaries and the money is laundered multiple times before it even reaches the accounts so the chances of anyone finding those is pretty slim. Can’t really do that with the account that gets such regular activity though. Not so completely anyway.”

“Best I could tell, they think Fallen Angel is dead though so there shouldn’t be any heat at least,” Duke tried to cheer her up the only way he could. 

“That’s a plus,” she said as she considered her next move. “Well…I guess I’m retired.” 

“You’re not gonna try and rebuild?” Duke asked. 

“With what? Starting from scratch was hell the first time and it won’t be any easier now. No, we can just retire to the Caymans and live off the fortune I’ve already amassed,” she said in irritation. “Or if you don’t want to retire, I could always join you in your business,” she said, realizing that she was trying to make the decision for both of them. 

“I don’t know. After all this mess, retiring in paradise sounds nice,” Duke agreed. “And it’s not like I can’t make local runs anyway when I get bored. There’s a /lot/ of business for smugglers in the Caribbean.” 

“Then we’ve got a plan. We just need an opening to carry it out,” she said, feeling much better now that it was all settled. “Once you get back to the boat, enable the dead man’s switch on the computer to wipe it, smash the USB drives and the phone. Make sure they’re unrecoverable,” she told him. 

“Okay. You don’t need anything from there for the banking information or anything?” he asked. 

“I have the account numbers and passcodes memorized so…actually, on second thought…write all that down but keep it hidden. I’m not sure how much I trust my memory at the moment.”

“Okay. I’ll do that first,” Duke agreed. “But as much as I hate to, I should probably go for now. I noticed a couple guard members as we were coming up here and it only takes so long to show you around and talk rent and such.” 

Audrey groaned miserably. “This is gonna suck until we can leave isn’t it.”

“We’ll get out as quick as we can possibly manage. And until then we’ll just have to be a little more sneaky than usual,” Duke promised. “I’ll try to get back up later on, even if I have to scale the back wall and come through the window,” he chuckled. 

“I’ll make sure to leave it unlocked,” she laughed and he kissed her one more time before limping out the door.


	21. Chapter 21

Duke did manage to sneak back up a few hours later, without having to scale the wall thankfully. At least his leg was very thankful. It got enough of a workout as he and Audrey got ‘reacquainted’ and Duke was even sure enough that no one saw him come up that he felt safe to stay the night. They were both more than glad about that since neither of them wanted to separate just yet. 

The next morning, after a nice breakfast, Duke snuck back out, meeting his brother downstairs for a second breakfast, after which he was waylaid by the guard who were still on his case about getting Wade out of town. He told them he was working on it, but they weren’t too happy about that answer. That meant that he was being watched more closely too and he wasn’t even able to slip upstairs that night. He did bring her coffee the next morning though and they took it inside so that they could spend some time together. 

Audrey told him that she was going to pretend to be Lexi to keep people at arm’s length as much as possible. Including Nathan. The fewer eyes on her the better. Duke agreed to keep the secret, but pointed out that Nathan could still figure it out. Audrey doubted it though. They spent a few hours talking and cuddling on the couch before there was a knock at the door and Audrey scrambled off Duke’s lap and moved to the kitchen table as Duke got up and leaned against the counter before he called, “in here!” 

Nathan came in with coffee and pastries, giving Audrey the perfect opportunity to play up the Lexi persona. Duke had agreed to work with Nathan today and give her a chance to perfect her act and see how it held up against other people, so she made excuses to help from the station, using the age-old paperwork line as Nathan and Duke chased down the leads. It almost worked too, but then Audrey slipped up. She could have played off the more advanced trouble knowledge as instinct or something, but calling Tatum, Tater not so much and then Nathan was in on the secret. 

Duke came in, having failed to catch the troubled guy before he left, and knew immediately when he came in to see Nathan hugging Audrey that he knew. Unfortunately, Nathan quickly figured out that Duke knew too and a fight was just barely avoided. The fact that Nathan only had a few minutes to live helped with that. They had more important things to do right now than fight about secrets. As it was they saved Nathan’s life with seconds to spare. 

When Wade ended up activating his trouble, intentionally, after having worked with Jordan who told him about it, Duke was a mess. He rushed out after his brother to try and talk him down, but he lost him and spent the next few hours searching to no avail. When he got back to the Gull, he noticed that Audrey was home and that there were no guard members in sight so he slipped upstairs. 

As soon as he got in the door, Audrey grabbed him in a hug. “Are you okay? Did you find Wade? What happened?” 

“I couldn’t find him,” Duke said with a weary sigh. “I can’t stay long. I need to be looking. I just needed…” he trailed off not really able to put it into words. 

Audrey reached up and tucked his hair behind his ear. “I’m always here, Duke. Whatever you need,” she assured him and he pulled her into a soft slow kiss before leading her to the bed. 

He couldn’t wait until they were shot of this place and didn’t have to sneak around so that he could actually stick around after sex more, but right now his brother was more important. He knew that he wasn’t likely to find him tonight. He would just have to see if he came back to the boat and set out early in the morning if he didn’t. 

The next evening, Audrey got a knock at her door, thankfully without Duke present this time, and was surprised to find Vince and Dave there. They had more questions about the barn and had found this book talking about a great evil and that what was once their salvation was now their doom which meant that Nathan couldn’t be killed. Audrey was more than glad to hear that last part, but the rest didn’t sound good at all. She answered their questions as best she could, still keeping the Lexi persona going, and got them out the door. She hoped that would meant that the guard would stop watching so closely, but it didn’t and she didn’t dare ask why and risk them knowing that she cared. 

It ended up taking a few days to track him down, and then he found him just walking around like nothing happened, getting cleaning supplies after spilling a soda in his truck. Duke resisted the urge to hit him for worrying him like that, but they had a nice talk and Duke managed to get across how serious this was. Now that Wade knew what it felt like and how hard it was to resist, he promised to leave town. He just needed a few days to work out a place to go. Duke agreed, more than a little relieved at that, and told him to be careful until then and most definitely avoid any blood at any costs. 

It wasn’t long after that when another trouble made itself known. One that wouldn’t allow people to sleep. It had everyone on edge and the guard busy trying to keep people awake and Audrey knew that this was their shot. No one was looking and they could get out of here. She texted Duke just one word. ‘Now’, and headed home, giving Nathan an excuse about checking some things out. 

Audrey was throwing stuff in her bag, having already planned what to take and snuck the bulk of it…what wouldn’t be noticed missing…down to Duke’s boat already, sending a few things at a time with him every time he left. She was just walking out the door with her packed bag and met Nathan coming around the corner. She cursed and rushed back inside, but not before he saw her and followed her in. “Why does it look like you’re leaving?” he asked worriedly. 

“Because I am,” Audrey said, not seeing any point in lying now. She had noticed Duke headed this way and between the two of them, they could make sure Nathan was out until they were well away. 

“Why would you leave? And…and what about us?” he asked, not noticing Duke coming up behind him. 

“Us? What us?” Audrey asked incredulously. “I thought I made it clear that there is no us, and my boyfriend would object if there were.” 

Duke knew that was his cue, so he closed the door behind him to make his presence known and said an amused, “Most definitely.”

“You two? But…I thought…” Nathan looked between them with a look of betrayal. 

“We’ve been together since long before the barn,” Audrey told him, glad for the opportunity to air all her grievances before leaving. “We decided to keep it a secret since you were so set in your hatred and suspicion of him and he didn’t want to cause me problems at work.”

“But…when he came back…he let me think…” Nathan said not looking any less betrayed. 

“If you had told me what you were thinking before you broadcast it to the guard I would have told you then, but once your plan was out there it was the only thing keeping you alive. I wasn’t gonna put a price on your head by correcting you,” Duke said with a roll of his eyes. 

“But now you’re putting a price on my head by leaving?” he asked them both. 

“Vince and Dave know you can’t be killed now. Something about salvation becoming doom or whatever,” Audrey waved a hand dismissively. “Either way, they put the word out that you’re off limits.” 

“Okay, but…what about the troubles? You can’t just /leave/,” Nathan said incredulously. Duke knew that this was about to get ugly so he snatched Nathan’s handcuffs from his belt and put them on him. Partially to keep him from taking off and getting the guard to help and partially to keep Audrey from decking him. She wouldn’t hit someone who was already restrained. That got him another betrayed look from Nathan as Duke grabbed his gun and phone too. 

“The hell I can’t,” Audrey snapped. “I did my part Nathan. I tried to end the troubles. I went into that barn to have my entire identity erased…including my love for Duke…so that all this would end and the town would be safe. /YOU/ screwed that up. You killed our son. You doomed this town. And now I’m supposed to sacrifice the rest of my life trying to clean up /your/ mess? I don’t think so. You broke it. You fix it. I’m done.” 

“I’ll make sure he can’t follow us and be right down,” Duke said as she stormed out the door, bag in hand. 

“What are you gonna do to me?” Nathan asked worriedly, backing nervously away from Duke. 

“Just knock you out for a few hours is all,” Duke assured him as he caught him. Nathan tried to fight, but couldn’t do much while handcuffed. He did manage to split Duke’s lip with a headbutt though before Duke got a blow to the back of his neck to knock him unconscious. Duke dragged him over to the kitchen and redid the cuffs around the pipe under the sink. He knew that with not being able to feel, Nathan would be able to get out of the cuffs soon enough, but anything to slow him down helped. He set the gun and phone neatly on the table…well out of reach, but he would be able to get to them once he was free.


	22. Chapter 22

Duke got to the boat about five minutes after Audrey did and quickly untied the mooring lines while she was inside out of sight. They didn’t want to risk anyone spotting her on the boat and getting the idea that something was up. Once they were well away from shore she came up and joined him at the helm, but neither of them relaxed until they were a few hours out and three days from the Cayman Islands. Duke had pushed the engines hard to get as far as possible as fast as possible but he slowed her down to a normal cruising speed now that they were well away and the two of them headed down to relax on the deck. 

“So we haven’t really had a chance to talk about what we’re gonna do once we get there,” Duke started, trying not to show his nerves at this conversation. 

“What do you mean?” she asked curiously, wondering what he was getting at. 

“I mean…well…do you want to live on the boat with me or…or get your own place,” he asked, only stumbling a little bit over the words. 

Audrey grinned and snuggled tighter to his side. “How about we get a nice little cottage on the beach with a boat dock. I would love to live on the boat with you, but the water pressure is awful. I need something with a good shower.” 

Duke laughed and nodded. “Okay. Little cottage with a good shower it is. And a huge bathtub big enough for two.”

“With a jacuzzi and hot tub,” she added. 

“Whatever you want,” Duke said amusedly. “It’s not like we can’t afford it.” Even if the didn’t touch her money he still had a couple million of his own hidden in the Caymans. More than enough to live in luxury. “And maybe…we could even get married?” he suggested. 

“Audrey Crocker does have a nice ring to it,” she grinned and kissed him deeply. 

“Just so we’re clear that was a yes?” Duke asked hopefully, needing to be sure. 

“Yes that was a yes,” she laughed and this time he was the one to kiss her, pulling her into his lap and they made love right there on the deck of the boat. 

Once they got to the Cayman’s their first order of business was accessing both of their accounts and moving a little bit of the money to a regular account for daily use. Finding a small house on the beach with a boat dock was relatively easy and with a cash payment it only took a few hours to have the deed in hand. They were plenty used to such things there. Getting some fake ID for Audrey to get them married was equally simple and her new ID as Audrey Crocker was completely legitimate. The wedding was held on the beach a week after they arrived and just included an officiant and two random witnesses. 

Meanwhile, back in Haven, things weren’t going so well. Dwight found Nathan two hours after the Cape Rouge left and immediately roused him, fearing the worst. When he learned that Duke and Audrey had left town and why, he knew that keeping Nathan alive just got a whole lot harder. Even with the directive from Vince and the knowledge that killing him could make everything worse. He, however, agreed with Audrey’s statement that Nathan broke it and it was on him to help handle it. Until he could convince the guard of that, he was sticking to Nathan’s side himself though. 

It only took a few days before they realized that they had a serial killer in town and a few more days to figure out that it was Wade, who hadn’t actually left town like he promised his brother he would. In fact, he’d never had any intention of doing so. Within two weeks of Duke and Audrey’s departure, Wade was killed in self-defense by a guard member, all of whom had been warned to watch out for him. The troubles were getting worse too, exacerbated by someone who called himself William who they couldn’t manage to catch thanks to his ability to create people and things out of some kind of black goo to protect himself. He just kept telling them to bring Mara back and he would show mercy, but even once they realized that Mara was Audrey, they had to tell him that they had no idea where she was or how to contact her. Both she and Duke had left their phones behind. 

It took less than a year for Haven to completely self-destruct, the few survivors being the ones who had fled town, many of them taking their troubles with them to the outside world. A world in which the guard was drastically reduced, so many of them dying in Haven, including Vince, Dave, Dwight, and Nathan. 

Duke and Audrey were completely oblivious to what was going on and enjoying their life of relaxation on the beach. They’d renovated their cottage, which was all one room in the first place, other than the bathroom of course, and made the entire room into a games room. They didn’t need to live there after all. That was what the Cape Rouge was for. Audrey just wanted her nice bathroom which had, as requested, a huge shower with multiple showerheads and a bench as well as a large jacuzzi tub. The hot tub was on the front deck overlooking the ocean and the dock where the Cape Rouge was usually tied off. 

Duke took the occasional solo fishing trip, but any smuggling runs he took, which were few and far between these days, Audrey always came along for and they usually took no more than a few days. Eventually though, they realized that they weren’t aging and figured it probably had something to do with the soulbond thing. They weren’t really worried about it though. They’d long gotten used to the rest of the effects. Their sixth sense about each other had gotten stronger, to the point that they could project their emotions and even simple impressions, no matter the distance. They couldn’t quite communicate telepathically, but it was close enough. 

Not aging did require some more planning though, but not much. They had barely made a dent in Duke’s two million dollars, especially with what they were making with their occasional runs, and they hadn’t even touched Audrey’s two hundred and fifty million. They were set cash wise, no matter how long they lived. They both knew that they couldn’t live on the beach forever though. They would get bored soon enough. They were already feeling the beginning stirrings of boredom after all. 

By the time they got the word that the troubles had spread to the outside world and were publicly known, it was time for their vacation to end. They’d been there for forty years by that point after all. Learning that the guard had pretty much gone under, they decided to start something similar, but not quite. Kind of a cross between the guard and her old organization. They would take in troubled people looking for money, since they were being very much discriminated against in this new world, and use them, and their unique skills, to rebuild the organization. 

That wasn’t to say that they just passed on anyone who wasn’t useful and didn’t want to become criminals. The rest of the troubled they helped find safe places to live and get legitimate incomes, even if they had to pay them themselves. All of that money came from the organization of course. They weren’t touching their nest egg and still had enough left over to keep adding to it, though much slower than it had been built up before with all the extra cash going out. There was an entire arm of the organization doing the work of the old guard. Finding, rescuing, and relocating the troubled. And recruiting the ones who could be recruited. They even made their own symbol. A stylized X, keeping the four people at each point as a throwback to the old guard, but different enough that they wouldn’t be confused as the same organization. 

They did eventually go back to Haven to see how things were there, but immediately regretted it when they saw the half-destroyed ghost town and left as quickly as they’d come. Not even the Gull was still standing. Out of curiosity, they tried to look up what happened to Nathan, Dwight, Vince, Dave, and even Duke’s brother Wade, only to find out that they’d all dropped off the face of the earth within the same year and they assumed that they’d died. More than once they wondered if they could have changed things if they’d stayed, and even moped about it from time to time, but it never lasted long. They both knew that if they’d stayed, they would likely have died along with the others given how they were both always in the thick of things.


End file.
